The United States, in its capacity as current G20 President, convened a Foreign Ministerial on Ebola to accelerate collective action against the ongoing outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. More than $470 million in new funding commitments were announced at the meeting, bringing total global pledges to over $2 billion since the outbreak began in May 2026. Participants included G20 members alongside Poland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Qatar, and the UAE, as well as key organisations such as the Africa CDC, OCHA, the Pandemic Fund, UNICEF, and the World Bank.
The United States announced an additional $267 million in health and humanitarian assistance, raising its total direct contribution to $887 million. The funding is to support Ebola treatment units, safe and dignified burial teams, personal protective equipment procurement, expanded surveillance, and contact tracing through local implementers. The US has also mobilised a separate $350 million in broader humanitarian assistance to the region through its partnership with OCHA.
The ministerial statement acknowledged that the outbreak presents unique challenges: it is centred in an isolated, conflict-affected area, and existing vaccines, diagnostics, and therapies are not fully effective against the Bundibugyo strain. Priority response measures identified include contact tracing, protecting frontline responders, expanding treatment bed capacity, deploying new diagnostics, and investing in vaccine development. Uganda's successful end to its outbreak in August demonstrated that the disease can be defeated.
Among the other major contributions announced, the United Kingdom committed $67.5 million — bringing its total to $105.6 million — to strengthen disease surveillance, support frontline health workers, and expand treatment access. The World Bank pledged $90 million, of which $80 million comes from its Crisis Response Window and $10 million from the Global Financing Facility to protect essential health services. Germany announced an additional $24.8 million, bringing its total to $30.7 million, while the Republic of Korea committed $18 million toward vaccines, therapeutics, and medical countermeasures. France brought its total to $34 million with a new $16 million pledge, and Japan's additional $5 million brought its cumulative support to near $12.4 million. Italy, the UAE, and Australia also announced new commitments of $11.3 million, $10 million, and $3.5 million respectively.
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