Author: Publication Date May 1, 2021 "When empowered, communities can support and advocate for their needs on behalf of themselves, a function that is vital to successful emergency response." There is ample evidence that community engagement is vital for containing epidemics, as the COVID-19 pandemic has once again showcased. As the crisis unfolded, it became clear that countries increasingly understand the importance of shifting from solely focusing on providing information to communities to establishing two-way communications and accountability systems with and for them. This paper reviews existing evidence on community engagement in the context of disease outbreaks, provides examples of community engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic, explores successes and challenges of these efforts, and offers lessons learned to strengthen community resilience during future outbreaks. It was prepared as one of the background papers for the work and final report (