I would like to thank the media for joining us, and I would like to thank the Emergency Committee Chair, Professor Robert Steffen, and all the 11 members who participated in the meeting, as well as the advisors and those who made presentations.

As you have heard, the Emergency Committee has come to the conclusion that the current outbreak does not constitute a public health emergency of international concern. I have accepted their advice.

But everyone here agrees that we must do everything possible to end this outbreak as soon as possible. The fact that a PHEIC has not been declared makes no difference to our commitment or our ability to fight this outbreak.

In light of the recent spike in cases, we thought it was important to reconvene the Emergency Committee, and I will not hesitate to do it again if needed.

The Emergency Committee is very committed, and as you have heard from their recommendation, they asked me to reconvene them anytime they are needed.

The key is strong community ownership of the response. Without it, we can’t stop the outbreak. We have made progress in recent weeks: through dialogue and negotiation, we now have access to communities that were previously harder to engage.

As you know, this outbreak is occurring in an area that has suffered from decades of conflict. We are working hard to strike a balance between protecting health workers and patients and securing the trust of communities.

Together, we will increase our efforts even more. We are working with communities, and listening to them to understand their concerns and their needs.

We will also step up our support to neighbouring countries so they are prepared if there is spread.

We are calling on the international community to step up its financial commitment to ending the outbreak.

We cannot intensify our efforts if we don’t have enough funds. The current funding gap has meant that we have had to slow down preparedness activities in neighbouring countries.

We need a total of US $148 million for all partners to fund the Strategic Response Plan until July. To date, we have only received U$ 74 million – about half of what is needed.

But we now have unexpected additional operating costs of US $30 million that were not part of the initial plan, which makes the total gap US $104 million. For example, the health care facilities that were burned down had to be rebuilt. And the Ministry of Health, WHO and all our other partners have stepped in to keep health centres running when other partners have left.

So I urge donors to step forward - stopping this outbreak is our collective responsibility.

The DRC health authorities and workers, WHO and partners, we’re all doing our part, despite the extremely difficult – and dangerous – situation.

I want to thank the Committee again. We will continue to monitor the situation, and if there are major developments, I will reconvene the Committee.

Finally, I want to thank all those involved in the response, particularly those on the front line, for their determination and their courage.

They are the lifeblood of this response and they demonstrate – every day - our commitment to keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable.

I thank you.

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