OCHA and partners anticipate another cholera in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The pre-agreed trigger thresholds in the anticipatory action framework for cholera in the Democratic Republic of the Congo were reached on 24 July 2025, following an upsurge in suspected cases in Kinshasa. This prompted an automatic allocation of up to 750,000 US dollars from the United Nation’s (UN) Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), which is supporting actions to reduce the scale and spread of the cholera outbreak. 

This pre-agreed CERF allocation is enabling the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF (the UN’s children’s fund) and their partners to provide critical health and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) assistance to communities in Kinshasa. These activities aim to reduce the loss of life through the timely detection of cholera alerts (which are then treated), carrying out case management, improving sanitation, and ensuring risk communication and community engagement.  

This activation is being facilitated by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in collaboration with the National Program for the Elimination of Cholera and the Control of Other Diarrheal Diseases, WHO and UNICEF. It is the third activation in the country this year, following earlier interventions by OCHA and its partners in June in Maniema and Tshopo provinces, and in March in North Kivu.  

Thanks to Ioannis Kaffes, OCHA, for his help with the article.