African Union Mobilizes $910 Million for Ebola Response in DR Congo and Uganda BODY: Bujumbura/Addis-Abeba, 17 June 2026 – President Évariste Ndayishimiye of Burundi and current Chairperson of the African Union, convened an emergency high-level meeting involving African Heads of State and Government, the African Union Commission, Africa CDC, the World Health Organization, regional economic communities, partners, and donors to expedite the response to the Ebola Bundibugyo outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda.
The meeting led to the mobilization of $910 million in financing pledges for the Ebola Bundibugyo response, including $80 million committed by African member states. Africa CDC hailed these African commitments as a strong signal of continental solidarity, shared responsibility, and African leadership in public health security. Leaders endorsed urgent action to mobilize and disburse the full $518 million required for the joint continental preparedness and response plan within the next four weeks.
The plan encompasses immediate response in affected areas and preparation in at — risk countries, including surveillance, contact tracing, laboratory capacities, case management, infection prevention and control, risk communication, community engagement, logistics, medical countermeasures, and cross-border coordination. President Ndayishimiye emphasized that populations will judge them based on their ability to interrupt transmission, protect health workers, restore community trust, and ensure dignified care for affected families. He underscored the importance of a shared, urgent, coordinated, and sustained continental response to public health security, reinforcing national and regional response plans, intensifying cross-border coordination, and enhancing preparedness, surveillance, and containment capacities to prevent any new transmission.
The African Union Commission President, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, expressed gratitude to African member states for their commitments, emphasizing that Africa is taking responsibility for its own health security while calling on partners to align behind a plan, budget, and team. Africa CDC Director-General, Dr. Jean Kaseya, stated that the priority now is speed, with every promise translating into financing, supplies, human resources, and concrete support for communities and on-the-ground responders.
The WHO Director — General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, reaffirmed full support to affected countries and the continental response led by Africa CDC, highlighting the importance of strong cross-border cooperation between affected countries and their neighbors for both the Ebola response and broader humanitarian needs.
The meeting also emphasized the need to strengthen essential health services on which populations depend for other urgent needs, such as malaria, measles, malnutrition, and more.
*Additional reporting by ImNews | Sources consulted: 5*
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This original article was produced by the ImNews editorial team
Source: reliefweb
Source: Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention
