By Michael Gwarisa
More than US$2 billion pledged by international donors for the Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) had yet to be disbursed as of October 14, 2026, raising questions about the pace at which promised resources are reaching the response on the ground.
An Africa Centres for Disease Control (Africa CDC) funding tracker shows that donors had pledged a combined US$3.05 billion for the Ebola response, but only US$962.66 million had been disbursed, leaving US$2.08 billion still to be disbursed.
The figures represent a significant gap between the resources announced by donors and the money that had actually been released to implementing partners and institutions involved in the response.
The United States was the largest contributor, with its overall pledge increasing from US$462 million in June to US$887 million by September. While the full initial US$462 million had been disbursed, the additional US$425 million pledged in September remained outstanding as of October 14.
The European Union and European Commission had pledged US$568 million, up from US$136.35 million in June. However, only US$15.02 million had been disbursed, leaving US$552.98 million from the September pledge still to be disbursed.
The World Bank had also significantly increased its commitment, from US$176 million in June to US$433 million. Of that amount, US$55.6 million had been disbursed, leaving US$377.4 million outstanding.
The funding tracker shows a similar pattern among several other major donors. Germany increased its pledge by US$110.33 million to US$127 million, but had disbursed only US$3.36 million, leaving US$123.64 million to be disbursed.
The United Kingdom had pledged US$105 million and disbursed US$50.24 million, leaving US$54.76 million outstanding. The Pandemic Fund had committed US$221 million, of which US$101.6 million had been disbursed. CEPI had pledged US$201 million and disbursed US$50.77 million, leaving US$150.23 million still to be disbursed.
The scale of the gap is particularly notable because the September funding round alone added almost US$1.39 billion to the consolidated pledges compared with the June figures.
The tracker records pledges from governments, multilateral institutions, foundations and other donors, with funds channelled through a wide range of implementing partners including the World Health Organization, UNICEF, Africa CDC, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and other organisations.
However, the document does not explain why the outstanding funds had not yet been disbursed or whether the undisbursed amounts were awaiting administrative approvals, agreements with implementing partners, procurement processes or other mechanisms.
The distinction between money pledged and money disbursed is critical in an emergency response, where the availability of resources on paper does not necessarily translate into resources available to health workers, laboratories, communities and response teams.
The figures therefore raise an important question for the international Ebola response: how quickly can the billions of dollars promised by donors be converted into funding that reaches the institutions and organisations carrying out the response?
As of October 14, the answer was that a substantial proportion of the money remained outstanding. Of the US$3.05 billion in consolidated pledges recorded in the tracker, just under one-third had been disbursed. The remaining US$2.08 billion represents more than twice the amount that had actually been released.
For a response to a deadly infectious disease outbreak, the gap between what is promised and what is available on the ground could become an important measure of the effectiveness and speed of the global response. The funding tracker does not, however, establish that the undisbursed funds have been lost or withdrawn. It records them as balances still to be disbursed as of October 14, 2026.
