The WHO’s prompt declaration of a Public Health Emergency of International Concern shepherded an effective coordinated response to contain the epidemic. In order to coordinate better the response to epidemics, outbreaks and disasters, the Niger Ministry of Health and the WHO Country Office established the Rapid Response team.

The aim of this study is to describe the experiences and challenges during the Implementation of Emergency Preparedness and Response-Rapid Response Team.

The study used a mixed methods approach with quantitative and qualitative data from a literature review of the WHO Country Office coordination mechanisms and the Niger Public Health Emergency Operational Centre (PHEOC). The study was conducted at the PHEOC of Niger during 12 months from September 2022 to September 2023.

The program began with the evaluation of Niger’s capacities and capacity building of teams to prepare, detect, and respond to public health emergencies within 24 hours of an alert. The team of multi-disciplinary and multi-sector experts was identified, selected, and trained using a series of training modules. The team was composed of a total of 50 experts from six sectoral ministries. The average age is 49.94 (±5.9) years with extremes ranging from 33 to 56 years. The sex ratio is 0.35. The team has acquired the experience of being deployed in four regions of the country and six districts as part of the response to six public health events.

The rapid response team has made it possible to acquire not only the technical and operational skills, but also financial, human, and logistical capacities to respond rapidly when a public health emergency occurs.