EU supports African Union mission to fight Ebola

The European Commission will provide €5 million to the newly established mission of the African Union (AU) "Support to Ebola Outbreak in West-Africa" (ASEOWA) that will join the ongoing efforts to contain the spread of the disease in the region.

Kristalina Georgieva i, EU Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, said: "The crisis continues to deteriorate, with Ebola cases surging even in places where it was brought under control. We must join forces in the fight against this deadly epidemic. Europe's humanitarian assistance is reaching the affected areas as we speak. The needs, however, are constantly growing."

ASEOWA is planned to last six months, with headquarters in Liberia and a minimum of 100 staff. It will provide advice to the Ebola coordination structures in the affected countries and engage in joint operations with them. It will also provide medical support in their on-going responses to the Ebola outbreak and assist local authorities and the international community in consolidating the control over the virus' epidemic. It will also support the establishing of institutions and conducive conditions for the control and eradication of Ebola, as well as liaise with humanitarian actors and facilitate, where possible, humanitarian assistance to isolated and quarantined centres.

Background

The European Commission has been scaling up its response to the epidemic since March 2014 and has to date pledged some €147 million to help the countries affected by the Ebola virus (Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Nigeria).

Humanitarian experts have been deployed in the region, monitoring the situation and liaising with partner organisations and local authorities.