At the frontline of trust: a day with Julienne Anoko WHO's Ebola Community Engagement Officer in DRC

Before the first field teams leave for affected communities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Julienne Anoko a WHO risk communication and community engagement officer is awake, reading overnight updates: new alerts, suspected cases, community rumours, security concerns and signs of resistance.

The day begins at 5:30 a.m. By 6:30, Julienne is already shaping the messages that may determine whether a family reports symptoms, whether a household accepts disinfection, or whether a community agrees to a safe and dignified burial. "A typical day in my role starts early with preparation and coordination," she said.

By 7:30 a.m., Julienne joins WHO's morning stand-up meeting, where the different pillars of the Ebola response come together: surveillance, infection prevention and control, laboratory teams, coordination, protection from sexual exploitation and abuse, psychosocial support, human resources and case management. Her role is to bring the community into the room - sharing insights from the community-such as misinformation, resistance, or concerns-and help align engagement strategies with the latest outbreak data. This ensures that messaging is both accurate and responsive to community realities.

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