Sonar-Global Highlights

Contextual Note: Funeral practices in Ituri

The "collective for Ituri" - an informal network primarily driven by social scientists who provide contextual information for the response to the Bundibugyo Ebola epidemic in Ituri - continues its work with the release on 1 June 2026 of a second background paper focusing on the issue of funerals during the Ebola outbreak. This contextual note expands on the funeral practices subsection of the first published note; it focuses on the operational implications of the elements presented and in greater detail. Funerals represent a moment of particularly high epidemic risk, identified as such during previous Ebola outbreaks, linked to the fact that the bodies of deceased persons are especially infectious. The authors include members of the Sonar-Global Association and the Social Sciences Emergency Support Network.

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Contextual Note on the Ebola Bundibugyo Outbreak in Ituri

We are pleased to announce the publication of the Contextual Note on the Ebola Bundibugyo Outbreak in Ituri written by 28 authors bringing together regional or thematic expertise from multiple disciplines to shed light on the complex factors shaping Ebola outbreaks and key points to consider. The authors include members of the Sonar-Global Association and the Social Sciences Emergency Support Network. This note provides contextual background on the Ituri province, currently affected by an Ebola Bundibugyo outbreak. The note does not directly address the news and latest developments in the Ebola response[1]; rather it presents the general context in which public health actions are being deployed by drawing on regional expertise and existing academic work. This note was originally written in French and a French version is available. [1] Work done by others such as ACAPS Briefing Note – DRC: Ebola outbreak (22 May 2026) – Democratic Republic of the Congo | ReliefWeb

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The SoNAR-global Vulnerabilities Assessment digital and its output

This paper describes the process, advantages and limitations of a qualitative methodology for defining and analyzing vulnerabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Implemented in Italy in two sites (Rome and outside Rome, in some small-medium sized municipalities in Latium) in 2021, this investigation employed a mixed digital research tool that was also used simultaneously in four other European countries. Its digital nature encompasses both processes of data collection. Among the most salient is that the pandemic catalyzed new vulnerabilities in addition to exacerbating old ones, particularly economic. Many of the vulnerabilities detected, in fact, are linked to previous situations, such as the uncertainties of labor markets, having in COVID-19 to the greatest negative effects on the most precarious workers (non-regular, part-time, and seasonal). The consequences of the pandemic are also reflected in other forms of vulnerability that appear less obvious, having exacerbated social isolation, not only out of fear of contagion, but because of the psychological challenges posed by containment measures themselves. These measures created not mere discomfort, but behavioral changes characterized by anxiety, fearfulness, and disorientation. More generally, this investigation reveals the strong influence of social determinants throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, creating new forms of vulnerability, as the effects of social, economic, and biological risk factors were compounded, in particular, among already marginalized populations.

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