Ebola – getting to zero and beyond: one asks for transparency and long-term vision
Brussels, 03/03/2015. Today the European Union and key partners organised a high-level international conference on the response to the Ebola crisis. The international advocacy and campaigning organisation ONE calls for more transparency and long-term vision in addressing this and future crises.
During today’s conference the Presidents of the most affected countries Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia presented their plans on how to recover and (re)build health systems. Also major donors and the United Nations, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union took part in the conference to discuss the current challenges, lessons learned from this outbreak and the next steps.
ONE has been closely tracking donor responses to date by developing a transparent and real-time interactive Ebola Response Tracker that was used by many as a tool to identify gaps in the financial response.
By a combined sourcing from international institutions and directly from donor governments, ONE was able to track cash commitments, contributions to healthcare personnel and in-kind commitments made by key donors. ONE found that disbursement rates lagged on the pledges, and that transparency around pledges is incredibly important for an effective approach.
Tamira Gunzburg, Director of ONE Brussels, said: “Half a million ONE members have called on world leaders to end the Ebola crisis. Donors must disburse promised funds as a matter of urgency. We can’t hold governments accountable to their promises unless there is more transparency on the use of those funds. That is a key lesson for today, as is the need to rebuild the healthcare workforce. Strong healthcare systems are the best way to prevent such crises from occurring again.”
At the conference it became clear that not only must we maintain momentum to get to zero cases, we must also rebuild healthcare systems as a key to recovery in the affected region. President of Liberia Ellen Johnson Sirleaf called for a “Marshall plan” for the period ahead. Upcoming meetings such as the World Bank spring meetings and the G7 Summit will be important to maintain focus and accountability amongst the international community.
ENDS
Notes to editors