At the beginning of the outbreak in Guinea and Liberia, this event was graded as a Level 2 based on the Emergency Response Framework (ERF). On 24 July 2014, the Director-General took the decision, based on the ongoing severity of the outbreak and a report of a case travelling from Liberia to Nigeria, to re-grade the event as a Level 3. In the ERF, a Level 2 event means WHO provides moderate support to the affected countries. With the re-grading to Level 3, WHO’s response is now consider substantial and additional resources must be mobilized. The funding requested in this proposal will enable the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Governments of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone to implement their respective operational plans in response to the urgent and immediate needs of West African countries affected by Ebola virus disease (EVD). It will help ensure that critically important activities are conducted as soon as possible in the three affected countries. It will also be instrumental in stepping up preparedness activities in neighbouring countries and in countries where imported cases have been reported.
Previously, WHO had issued funding appeals that totaled US$ 4.8 million on 27 March and 10 April 2014. WHO has received USD 7,006,230 against these appeals from the following donors: ECHO, Italy, South Korea, USAID, Estonia, Canada, Rio Tinto Guinea, CERF, Germany,
VIVO Energy, Japan, OAS Brazil, Société des mines de fer de guinée (SMFG), Société Anglogold Ashanti de Guinée (SAG), United Kingdom-Department For International Development (DFID), Vale International Holdings GmbH, United States, and the African Development Bank. These funds, which supported WHO's activities from March to June 2014, are now exhausted.
With the current situation of Ebola outbreak, WHO together with affected countries is launching the Ebola Virus Disease Response Plan for the period of July to December 2014.
The donor support will enable WHO to respond to the demands formulated by countries at the 2-3 July 2014 meeting in Accra, Ghana, in which Ministers of Health and senior health officials, as well as the international community participated. In Accra, all actors expressed their expectations for WHO to lead and coordinate the international response to the outbreak. It is anticipated that there will be a need for additional requests for funding in the coming weeks or months based on further assessment and further evolution of the outbreak.
