Responding to Ebola: Leadership, Partnership, and the Challenge of Containment

The 2026 Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has presented significant challenges for outbreak response, highlighting the complexities of responding to fast-moving health emergencies in resource-constrained settings. What can the current response teach us about the strengths and vulnerabilities of today’s global health emergency systems?

This conversation will bring together Dr. Marie-Roseline Darnycka Belizaire, Emergency Director for the World Health Organization (WHO) in Africa, and Prof. Yap Boum II, Head of the Emergency Preparedness and Response Division at Africa CDC, to examine how countries and partners coordinate during a fast-moving outbreak. They will discuss the importance of national leadership, cross-border coordination, community trust, health-system capacity, financing, and international partnerships, as well as what is needed to strengthen outbreak preparedness and response beyond the current crisis.

This webinar is free and open to the public and will conclude with a live Q&A session.

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Speakers

Marie Roseline Belizaire, MD, MPH, MSc, A-FETP, PhD
Emergency Director, WHO Africa

Dr. Marie-Roseline Darnycka Belizaire is a Harvard LEAD Fellow in Leadership and currently serves as the Emergency Director for the World Health Organization (WHO) in Africa, where she leads emergency preparedness and response across 47 countries. A physician specialized in family and community medicine, she holds five master’s degrees and a PhD, bringing over 20 years of frontline global health expertise.

Her career spans Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, and the Middle East, where she has led responses to major public health crises, infectious disease outbreaks, humanitarian emergencies, and natural disasters. Dr. Belizaire is recognized for her strategic vision, her ability to transform health systems in fragile settings, and her leadership in advancing multisectoral, community-centered, and country-driven solutions to strengthen resilience across the continent.

Yap Boum II, PhD
Head of Emergency Preparedness and Response, Africa CDC; Professor, Faculty of Medicine, Mbarara University of Science & Technology; Co-Founder, iDocta; Co-Founder, Kmerpad

Prof. Yap Boum II is a biologist and public health leader serving as Head of the Emergency Preparedness and Response Division at Africa CDC, where he also serves as the Deputy Ebola Bundibugyo Incident Manager. He has more than 15 years of experience leading epidemic preparedness and response, health systems strengthening, research, and humanitarian health operations across Africa.

Before joining Africa CDC, Prof. Boum held senior leadership positions with Epicentre/MSF, including Director of Epicentre Mbarara in Uganda and Africa Representative, and served as Director General of the Institut Pasteur de Bangui. He has held academic and research positions in microbiology and public health and has contributed to major responses to Ebola, mpox, cholera, and COVID-19.

Prof. Boum holds an MPH, PhD and MBA and is committed to strengthening African leadership, health sovereignty, community-centered outbreak response, and locally led research and innovation.