In August 2024, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that the recurrence of monkeypox constituted a public health emergency of international concern (USPPI) under the provisions of Regulation SL. The WHO says the African Region is the most affected, with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Burundi and Uganda being the most affected countries in the region. The WHO issued recommendations for the control of monkeypox, which included advice to States Parties to invest in meeting evidence needs. As communities are at the center of all research, they must have a clear understanding of their rights. Without this knowledge, their consent could be based on incomplete information, misunderstanding of risks and benefits, or undue influence.
It is in this context that Western University of Canada, Centre de recherche et de formation en Ethique appliquée, INERELA+ DRC (CONERELA+), and FOSAD organized an international workshop on the research ethics toolbox to enable people with limited education and no prior experience to understand and decide whether to participate in any research that respects their rights and ethics. The workshop which was held at Hôtel Africana Palace in the city of Kinshasa on the 24th and 25th of June 2025 was attended by at least 40 people (20 per session). Some of the key topics covered during the workshop included: Research ethics and your rights as a research participant; Basic rights of participants and Stages of drug development. Participants acknowledged the impact of the workshop as they confirmed improvement and understanding of their rights before consent to research, and further working through Focus Groups, they contributed to key recommendations from the workshop. Notable recommendations raised by the participants included asking the Ethics Committee and partners to request a toolbox training for research participants as a prerequisite for all research in the DRC; suggested that the rights of research participants should include recourse to the courts in the event of rights violations and adding the right for participants to be involved in the research from the onset and throughout. The workshop, which ended with participants receiving certificates of competency from the funding partner, Western University Canada, Centre de recherche et de formation en Ethique appliquée, together with CONERELA+ and FOSAD were encouraged to multiply the workshop across the country as an effort towards making sure no research shall be conducted in DRC without participants undertaking competency workshop on research ethics.