Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

Britain tells Canada and France to pull their weight on Ebola

Published 2019-07-15, 02:40 p/m
Updated 2019-07-15, 02:50 p/m
Britain tells Canada and France to pull their weight on Ebola

Britain tells Canada and France to pull their weight on Ebola

By Tom Miles

GENEVA, July 15 (Reuters) - Britain's international development minister Rory Stewart called on France and Canada on Monday to offer more help in tackling the Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo.

Stewart, who visited the Ebola zone earlier this month, told a U.N. meeting that Britain had donated $45 million towards a previous Ebola outbreak and the current one, and that he had authorised a further $63 million of British spending.

"We are going to have to put a lot more money into this on a 'no regrets' basis," he told the meeting, adding that governments must stop using security concerns as an excuse not to send staff to the Ebola front line, where armed groups have frequently attacked aid workers.

The United States, Britain and Germany had all donated generously, but other members of the G7 group of countries needed to do more, Stewart said.

"We would be hugely grateful if our dear friends from the other G7 countries really stepped up," he added.

Money was the priority, but French language expertise was also valuable, and francophone France and Canada could make a special contribution.

"It would be wonderful if some francophone countries could provide more staff on the ground. We desperately need more French speakers deployed in the field," he said.

Stewart told BBC radio that he would be asking the French and Canadian governments to make more generous contributions.

The World Health Organization's emergencies chief, Mike Ryan, said Canada had contributed $750,000 directly to the WHO effort, but had also donated to other agencies. It was also Canadian government money that funded the development of the Ebola vaccine that has saved many lives.

"With regard to the government of France, we rely on the government of France for a lot of technical cooperation, but as of this moment WHO has not received any financial contributions from the government of France," Ryan said.

Stewart said some donors at the packed U.N. meeting believed the response was well funded.

"The World Bank has been making very positive comments about how they've got it all under control. They haven't," he said, adding that money was needed to double the number of WHO staff helping Congo's neighbours, such as Burundi and South Sudan, prepare for a potential outbreak.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.