The Ebola crisis ravaging the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is the second deadliest in history following the 2014-2016 crisis in West Africa. This 10-month old crisis has claimed over 1,200 lives with 200 of them occurring in May alone. However, despite its intensity, complexity and high potential to spread wider, there is very little regional and global attention to this crisis, which begs the question “how many more need to die, before the African Union, shows true leadership to end this unfolding crisis?”
 
Historically, DRC has been vulnerable to Ebola outbreaks, recording over 10 of them in 40 years. 
The current wave is the worst ever documented in the country and has the potential to be very catastrophic since the ongoing health response is being hampered by the heightened insecurity situation thus making the whole region and global community equally vulnerable to the spread of this dangerous epidemic. Further, the deep community mistrust in the government and the epidemic response complicates any efforts to contain the outbreak. If uncontrolled, this epidemic could destabilise the region, most significantly neighbouring states such as Rwanda, Uganda and South Sudan.
 
By signing this petition, we are asking National, Regional and Global leaders to give the due attention to the Ebola crisis in DRC.
 
Specifically, we ask that;

1. The African Union shows urgent leadership in this response:
The AU Peace and Security Council must efficiently manage and resolve the conflict in Eastern DR Congo. The council should further ensure the safety and security of every healthcare worker who is working tirelessly to combat the outbreak and see to it that peace is restored in the country. There should be more concerted effort by governments in the region to address the complex political and security obstacles to the response through dialogue between waring and conflicting parties.    

2. WHO declares the current outbreak as a Public Health Emergency for International Concern (PHEIC) to galvanise high-level political, financial and technical support before it's too late.
 
3. WHO approves the Ebola Vaccine:  We urge the WHO to fast-track the approval of the Ebola vaccine to enable a more extensive distribution to all who need it.
 
4. The Government of DR Congo and other partners should engage the community by increasing awareness about the reality of the current epidemic and its containment measures. There must be a connection with the community as well as building mutual trust to enable the acceptance of infection prevention and control practices such as safe burials and decontamination activities. Equally important is the need to reduce and eventually eliminate the use of armed forces to compel communities to comply with health measures of the response.