The Community Trust Index assesses the level of trust in the Red Cross response during the 16th Ebola outbreak in Kasai province, focusing on perceptions of its actions, competencies, and the role of volunteers and staff. The analysis covers the outbreak period from the first recorded case on 20 August 2025 to the last reported case on 19 October 2025, during which 53 confirmed cases, 11 suspected cases, and 45 deaths were reported.

Summary

  • Strong overall performance, slight values gap: Competencies (9.27) are slightly higher than values (9.08), suggesting solid delivery but room to strengthen trust and perception.

  • Transparency is the main weakness: At 7.7, it is the lowest score by far, indicating a need for clearer communication and more visible decision-making.

  • Engagement drives higher scores: People who interact more (feedback, support requests, volunteering) consistently rate services higher, showing engagement is a key perception driver.

  • Lower scores linked to low engagement and vulnerability: Less engaged groups (no feedback, inactive, some locations like Mweka 1) report lower scores, highlighting the need for targeted outreach.

Sampling

The survey was conducted from 27 February to 13 March 2026 in Kasai province, specifically in the health areas of Bulape and Mbweka (territories of Mweka and Bulape). A total of 1,563 respondents were reached, of whom 1,513 provided complete responses.

A stratified random sampling approach was used to ensure representation across key population groups, including differences in age, gender, education level, and geographic location. Data collection was carried out by Red Cross volunteers as part of efforts to assess community trust during the Ebola response.

See metrics: Metrics

Geographic

The survey sample closely reflects the population distribution across Bulape and Mweka, indicating that the sampling is broadly representative of the target population. Mweka accounts for 58.2% of survey respondents compared with 54.1% of the population, making it slightly overrepresented in the sample. Conversely, Bulape represents 41.8% of respondents versus 45.9% of the population, indicating slight underrepresentation.

Coverage

Gender and Age

The age and sex distribution of the survey sample broadly aligns with the population profile, suggesting that the sample is generally representative across demographic groups. Some differences are evident, with younger adults aged 20–29 slightly underrepresented in both females and males, while males aged 30–49 and 50–59 are somewhat overrepresented in the survey compared to the population. Overall, however, the variations between the sample and population remain relatively small. These small imbalances may require post-stratification adjustment.

Education

Education data is available only for the survey sample, with no comparable population data for validation. Among respondents, the largest proportion reported having completed secondary school (45.7%), followed by university education (21.2%) and primary school education (20.1%). Smaller shares reported no formal education (10.7%) or advanced university-level education (2.2%).

Employment

Employment data is available only for the survey sample, with no corresponding population data available for comparison. Among respondents, unemployment is the most commonly reported status (32.0%), followed by irregular/informal employment (26.5%) and regular/partial employment (19.1%). Smaller proportions reported being not active (17.0%) or students (5.3%). As no comparable population breakdown is available, these results should be interpreted with caution.

Limitations

The data presented in this study should be interpreted with caution due to methodological limitations related to sampling and representativeness.

  • While the survey broadly reflects the population distribution across Bulape and Mweka, slight imbalances remain:

    • Mweka is somewhat over-represented in the sample;

    • Bulape is slightly under-represented.

  • Minor differences are also observed in the age and sex distribution, including:

    • Younger adults being slightly under-represented;

    • Some older male age groups being over-represented compared with population estimates.

  • No comparable population benchmark data were available for education and employment characteristics, limiting the ability to assess representativeness across these variables.

  • Although post-stratification adjustments were applied using available demographic variables to improve comparability, these corrections cannot fully eliminate bias introduced by the sampling approach and data limitations.

  • As a result, the findings should be interpreted as broadly indicative rather than fully representative of the wider population, and caution is advised when generalizing beyond the surveyed sample.

Survey Results

The charts below present the survey answers as percentages, offering visualization of the Community Trust levels by subdimensions. They illustrate the distribution of community’s perceptions of the competencies and values.

Perception of trust

Competencies

Values

Contextual questions

This section presents findings on community members’ experiences with and behaviors toward the Red Cross. These questions explore interactions, perceptions, and engagement patterns, offering insights into how the Red Cross is viewed and utilized within the community.

Experiences

The survey shows that most respondents reported prior engagement with the Red Cross, with the highest proportion having made a donation (41.9%), followed by volunteering (36.9%), receiving aid/support (36.3%), and requesting support (31.7%).

Behaviours

Respondents reported very high levels of positive engagement with Red Cross information and services, with most having followed Red Cross advice in a crisis (97.2%), shared information received with others (94.3%), provided feedback (86.5%), and recommended the organization to people needing support (75.4%).

Intention

Respondents expressed very strong willingness to engage with the Red Cross in the future, with the majority reporting they are very likely to volunteer, recommend services, provide feedback, donate, follow Red Cross advice, share information, and request support, generally ranging between 67% and 80% across all actions.