More medical staff, focused communication strategies and differentiated approaches in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia are the priorities of the European Union’s action plan to respond to Ebola, European Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs Christos Stylianides announced in mid-November after a five-day visit to West Africa, his first official trip since he was appointed in late October.
Directly after returning from the Ebola-affected countries with European Health Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis, Stylianides — who also serves as the EU’s Ebola coordinator — briefed the European Parliament Nov. 17 and met the foreign ministers of the 28 EU member states, who pledged to step up their commitments to fight the epidemic.
Stylianides told the influential Development Committee (known as DEVE) that his trip helped to identify the main gaps in the EU’s response to the crisis. He promised to produce a detailed action plan with concrete measures, and suggested holding a high-level meeting on Ebola with representatives from West African governments.
About the author
Diederik Kramers@DiederikKramers
Diederik Kramers is a freelance correspondent in Brussels covering EU and NATO affairs. A former spokesperson and communications officer for UNICEF and UNHCR, he previously worked as foreign desk and Eastern Europe editor for the Dutch press agency ANP and as editor-in-chief of the Dutch quarterly Ukraine Magazine.