Breaking
On 17 May 2026, the WHO declared the Ebola outbreak in DRC and Uganda a Public Health Emergency of International Concern — the highest level of global health alert. The Bundibugyo strain driving the outbreak has no approved vaccine or treatment.
Save the Children teams are already on the ground.
As of 16 May, 246 suspected cases and 80 suspected deaths have been reported across at least three health zones in Ituri Province alone.
Ebola is devastating for anyone who contracts it. But Ebola is arriving into a place that has been in continuous humanitarian crisis for nearly three decades. The DRC is one of the most dangerous places to be a child.
CURRENT OUTBREAK FIGURES (as of 17 May 2026)
- 246 suspected cases in Ituri Province, DRC
- 80+ suspected deaths to date
- 3+ health zones affected in DRC
- 0 approved vaccines for this strain
Your generous donation could provide children and families affected by the Ebola outbreak in DRC, as well as other disasters across the world, with life-saving essentials like food, water and crucial mental health support. It can also help create lasting change through longer term programmes to alleviate poverty and the chronic impact of climate change.
Our work in DRC
Right now, children in DRC are living through one of the world's largest humanitarian crises
One in every four people needs humanitarian support due to violent conflict, climate-related disasters and disease outbreaks. In the first half of December 2025 alone, more than 500,000 people – including over 100,000 children – were forced from their homes as violence escalated in South Kivu province.
Armed groups targeted civilians directly, killing and injuring nearly 200 people. Many families fled to other parts of the country and into neighbouring Burundi and Rwanda, carrying what little they could.
How we're helping children in DRC
We're working with 13 partners, local organisations and government authorities to reach children and families right now — across five areas:
Health response: Supporting health facilities in affected areas to detect, isolate and manage Ebola cases safely. This includes providing personal protective equipment (PPE), establishing screening, training health workers on Ebola protocols, and continuity of essential health services.
Nutrition: Integrating nutrition support into the Ebola response so children and families affected by the outbreak can safely isolate and recover, while continuing to access essential nutrition services
Child protection: Protecting children from the wider impacts of the outbreak, including family separation, stigma and exploitation. This includes identifying and supporting children who have lost caregivers, providing psychosocial support, strengthening referral systems, and activating community-based protection.
Community education: Working with communities to stop the spread of Ebola through trusted, local-language information, tackling misinformation, and supporting families to stay informed and protected.
Education: Helping keep children safe and learning. Where schools remain open, we support hygiene measures, screening and teacher training on Ebola prevention and reporting. If schools close, we provide alternative learning through home-based materials, radio education and child-friendly spaces.
Water and sanitation: Providing clean water and chlorine for disinfection — one of the most effective tools available where no vaccine exists.
With your support, we’ll be there for many more children around the world, for as long as they need us, so they can start to recover and see beyond tomorrow.
Why Your Donation Matters
For over 100 years Save the Children have fought for a fairer world for children.
Month after month, in the UK and around the world, we make sure children stay safe, healthy and keep learning through the toughest times. Whether they're at risk due to conflict, poverty or the global food crisis we ensure we are there providing vital resources such as food, water, education and mental health support to ease their suffering and help recovery.
We could not do this without our supporters who give a donation every month.
Monthly donations allow us to plan for the long term. To be not just reactive, but proactive in thousands of projects helping children across the world, all designed with one thing in mind: to improve the lives of children.
How Your Donation Can Help
Save the Children’s ambition is a world in which every child has the right to survive, learn and be protected. We were founded on the belief that every child deserves the chance of a future. This belief underpins everything we do.
Together with families, supporters and partners, we work to help every child get the future they deserve - focusing our efforts where the need is greatest.
Your donation could help ensure children:
- Get a healthy start in life: From training midwives through to setting up Emergency Health Units, we work to enable safe birth.
- Learn and go to school safely: Campaigning for marginalized and poverty stricken children, setting up temporary learning spaces and repairing damaged schools in conflicts.
- Protect children from hunger: Our teams provide counselling, breastfeeding support, malnutrition screening, vitamin supplements and cash transfers.
- Grow up in resilient families: Our family tracing team work tirelessly all over the world to reunited children parents and siblings for a lifetime of belonging.
Who are Save the Children UK?
Every child has a unique story. We help children rewrite theirs.
Save the Children fights for children every single day so they can fulfil their unique potential.
Month after month, in the UK and around the world, we make sure children stay safe, healthy and keep learning, so they can become who they want to be.
We could not do this without our supporters who give a donation every month.
Monthly donations allow us to plan for the long term. To be not just reactive, but proactive in thousands of projects across the world, all designed with one thing in mind: to improve the lives of children.
We know what needs to be done. To do it, we need you.
