UN allocates up to $60 million from CERF to accelerate Ebola response in DRC

The United Nations announced an emergency allocation of up to $60,000,000 from the Central Emergency Response Fund to accelerate the response to an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the UN press officer said. An initial tranche of $10,000,000 has already been released.

The announcement cited Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher and said that more UN and partner staff are being deployed to reinforce the response. "Containment depends on fast, coordinated action across the community, at the community level," the press officer relayed, summarizing Fletcher's remarks.

The World Health Organization, represented in the briefing by reference to Dr. Tedros, said it is revising the outbreak's risk assessment to "very high" at the national level, "high" regionally and remains "low" globally. WHO is supporting national authorities across response pillars including contact tracing, treatment centers, risk communications and reviewing vaccine and therapeutics pipelines.

The World Food Programme is assisting with logistics, transporting responders and medical cargo to hubs such as Bunia and Nitori/Ituri. The briefing said more than 46 metric tons of cargo had arrived at the central logistics hub and supplies were dispatched to at least 14 locations to support the response.

The press officer emphasized that containing Ebola requires more than medical treatment: "It requires food, it requires access, it requires transport, and it requires logistics so frontline teams can move fast and affected families can safely follow public health measures." The UN said additional staff and supplies will be sent this weekend.

The briefing did not provide a detailed breakdown of how the $60 million will be allocated across agencies or timelines for disbursement beyond the initial tranche.