This case study examines how the Zimbabwe Red Cross Society (ZRCS) responded to a major cholera outbreak that swept across all 10 provinces between February 2023 and July 2024, resulting in over 34,000 suspected cases and 718 deaths.
Drawing on a locally-led, community-centred approach, ZRCS deployed the RC-CATI (Red Cross – Case Area Targeted Interventions) approach across Harare’s most affected urban districts — mobilising 300 volunteers, establishing 67 Oral Rehydration Points, and reaching 683,000 people with life-saving services.
The case study covers the four pillars of the response — breaking transmission, early treatment, WASH risk reduction, and multi-actor coordination — and reflects on what worked and what didn’t, including the critical role of local volunteer networks, the limitations of centralised water testing, and the challenges posed by delayed outbreak reporting. It also highlights how flexible, rapid-release funding enabled a faster-than-usual deployment, and how lessons from this response are now being built into national preparedness systems.
Zimbabwe Red Cross Society was supported by the Finnish Red Cross and DG-ECHO.
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English