CIESIN is helping strengthen the Ebola response in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) by providing responders with more accurate and up-to-date geospatial data. Developed in collaboration with GRID3 and local and international partners, the data help identify where people live, locate health facilities, and clarify the health-area and health-zone boundaries used to organize response activities.
CIESIN and GRID3 recently released updated geospatial data for Nord-Kivu Province as part of the Ebola response, extending their support to another heavily affected area of eastern DRC. The release includes newly mapped health areas and facilities based on locally collected GPS data, as well as updated settlement information reflecting the revised health-area boundaries.
For Ituri Province, CIESIN integrated recent household survey data from the DRC’s National Malaria Control Program, resulting in a dataset that includes previously unmapped health areas and villages, names for previously unidentified settlements, and corrected health-facility locations. CIESIN also aligned the settlement, health-facility, and boundary layers to ensure that communities and facilities are associated with the correct health areas and zones.
Together, the Ituri and Nord-Kivu releases provide response teams with a more complete and consistent geographic reference for surveillance, case investigation, vaccination, logistics, and community engagement. They also help organizations coordinate their activities and reduce the risk of communities being overlooked or assigned to the wrong operational areas, reflecting CIESIN’s continued commitment to providing high-quality spatial data for emergency planning and public health response.
Download data:
Ituri: GRID3 Data Hub | HDX
Nord-Kivu: GRID3 Data Hub | HDX
Based on this State of the Planet Blog
Related CIESIN News item
Portions of this news blurb were edited with the assistance of AI tools to improve clarity and readability. All content was reviewed and validated by the authors.
