VIDEO - The EU Continues to Deliver in the Fight against Ebola: Prevention and Preparedness are key - Carla Montesi, EuropeAid

The current situation

The situation remains serious, despite the impressive mobilisation of international support. The Ebola epidemic is affecting the most vulnerable countries. It has a direct impact on their livelihoods and economies. And many economic sectors are affected including not just health but also agricultural services and mining.

I would just say that Ebola is a virus that knows no borders: it can spread across wide territories. One of the challenges that we have now, is that when we think that the epidemic is under control in one place, it can reappear somewhere else. So experts told us last Friday that overall the situation seems to be stabilising in the three countries. Yet we still see new cases appearing in new areas. This is why the situation continues to require a high level of attention and I will say that getting more health workers on the ground is still the short-term priority. We need absolutely to tackle this.

Europe has pledged € 1 billion to fight Ebola– how are we delivering this?

As you know together the EU and the MS have already pledged more than € 1.2 billion in support of Western African countries affected by Ebola. This is a huge collective commitment. Last week I was in Guinea Conakry with Commissioner Mimica. He announced that the European Union will provide an additional € 60.5 million in response to the Ebola crisis. This new pledge bring the total European Commission funding to more than € 438 million and of this € 210 million is the development package to support western African countries. If you ask me if Europe is delivering the answer is yes. The EU has and continues to deliver. We have delivered in terms of funding, I just mentioned, medical personnel, mobile laboratories, state of preparedness – in Europe and in neighbourhood countries – and research into possible vaccines for Ebola.

The development contribution is also being delivered right now. We have paid more than one third of the funds that we have engaged and we are using the funds for budgets support and also to support missions for example of the African Union health workers. So we have given a contribution to the African Union to have health workers on the ground. 

Preparedness

Prevention and preparedness of countries are key to containing the epidemic, which is why the EU is supporting West African governments to develop and test national preparedness plans through:

1. The Instrument Contributing to Stability and Peace
2. Redirecting ongoing programmes and using unspent funding to address gaps
3. Assisting mobile laboratories. 

In addition to these different actions, I would like to mention the work that our EU Delegations are doing on the ground. They are closely following discussions and providing input for any coordination mechanism to help of course the authorities, to help the WHO organisation in the region that has taken this coordination and preparedness process under their leadership. 

Find out more on preparedness by watching the video.

The post-Ebola period

Our focus must continue to be to help countries to emerge from the crisis and of course, build long-term recovery. Last week I visited Guinea and I saw the terrible effect of this outbreak on the ground. I was really struck by the devastating impact of Ebola on many sectors of the country. 

For example, health services are stretched and are not able today just to take care of people who are pregnant or to help people affected by malaria. Children can’t go to school, parents can’t go to work. And of course, in all this long-term food security is affected. 

We want to organise in the first quarter of 2015 a high-level conference with a clear view on this needs assessment. We want to take this occasion to take stock of the humanitarian response that we are currently providing, we want to identify the lessons learned and also engage the international community on the basis of this needs assessment report to secure a coordinated post-Ebola response. I wanted to say that this has to be our main challenge for the high-level conference. 

Find out more about the post-Ebola period by watching the video.

Carla Montesi, Director West and Central Africa, EuropeAid. December 2014