EU pledges €450 million to Ebola affected countries
Today, the European Commission will pledge approximately €450 million to support the recovery of the three countries most affected by Ebola - Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. This will be announced by Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid & Crisis Management and EU Ebola coordinator, Christos Stylianides, at the International Ebola Recovery Conference taking place in New York and organised by the United Nations.
Sierra Leone will receive €171.4 million, Liberia €121 million and Guinea €148.9 million. Another €8 million will be given to all countries affected by Ebola for multi-country projects. The support will help the countries' long term recovery, and will be spent on programmes in the area of healthcare, agriculture, infrastructure, education, sanitation, macro-economic stability and transport. This new funding brings the European Commission's total support towards fighting the Ebola epidemic to €869 million, of which €660 million are development funds in support of the three affected countries' recovery plans[1].
Announcing the funding, Commissioner Christos Stylianides said: "The emergency is not over until we are down to zero Ebola cases. With some new cases in Liberia we remain on high alert and our determination to eradicate Ebola is stronger than ever. Now is not the time to pull back. "
Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development Neven Mimica said: "It's important to remember that this Ebola epidemic has not just had an impact on the healthcare of the countries affected, it's also crippled their economies, kept children out of school and brought trade to a standstill. That's why our funding will support countries in a wide range of areas, to help them better deal with the multiple challenges that arise from this crisis. We stand firmly side by side with the people of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, over the long term."
Background
The High Level International Ebola Recovery Conference will be hosted by UN Secretary General Ban Ki- moon in cooperation with the Governments of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, and in partnership with the European Union, the African Union, the African Development Bank, and the World Bank. A pledging conference takes place on the 10 July, which will bring together the international communityand Heads of State and Government from the three countries affected. The conference aims to help the countries in their reconstruction process and to ensure greater resilience going forward.
The three Ebola affected countries are expected to present updates of their recovery plans during the High Level conference, at which the international donor community will in turn announce its support.
More information
Factsheet on EU's response to Ebola:
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-15-5339_en.htm
[1] This €660 million of development funds include today's announcement of €450 million as well as €210 million pledged earlier on this year.
IP/15/5338
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