As prepared for delivery

Excellencies,

Fellow IASC Principals,

Communities in the DRC were already facing conflict, displacement, food insecurity and fragile public services.

Now they face the deadly threat of Ebola.

Beyond the immediate health and humanitarian toll, this is also a development emergency.

If we do not act quickly, years of progress can be lost.

So, our response must stop the outbreak, but also protect the foundations of recovery.

Three priorities are essential:

1. First, we must finance the response – and we must do it quickly.

But let us be clear: we cannot finance one emergency by taking resources away from another. 

Cutting food assistance, water and sanitation, or basic health services will only make people more vulnerable and outbreak control more difficult.

The Ebola response and the humanitarian response must be funded together.

2. Second, communities are our first line of defence.

Early detection, contact tracing, safe and dignified burials, and infection prevention.

These measures save lives.

But they only work when people trust them.

That is why UNDP is working through trusted community volunteers and helping to fight misinformation with facts.

3. Third, recovery cannot wait. 

UNDP’s Socio-Economic Assessment shows that this outbreak could push nearly one million more people into poverty in the DRC alone.

If we stop the virus but leave livelihoods broken, services disrupted, and institutions weakened, we will have solved one crisis while creating another. 

That is why UNDP is connecting emergency action with key needs like access to basic services and livelihoods - especially for women and young people.

Excellencies, Fellow IASC Principals,

Ebola demands urgency.

But our responsibility goes beyond the outbreak.

Every dollar invested today should do two things:

Help stop Ebola.

And strengthen long-term recovery.

We must save lives today.

While leaving behind stronger communities, stronger systems and greater resilience.

Thank you.