EBOLA.UN
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon speaks to members of the Security Council during a meeting on the Ebola crisis at the U.N. headquarters in New York, September 18, 2014. The United Nations will create a special mission to combat Ebola, deploying staff in the worst-affected states - Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone - to push a "rapid and massive mobilization" of people, material and financial resources. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

Recognising that the current Ebola outbreak constitutes a "threat to international peace and security", the UN Security Council announced a special Ebola mission to stop the outbreak, treat the infected, provide essential services, preserve stability and prevent further outbreaks.

Secretary general Ban Ki-Moon said that the mission under the leadership of its special representative will coordinate efforts by all players and experts. He emphasised that the mission's effectiveness will depend on international support.

Calling upon a 20-fold increase in assistance, he said that almost $1 billion will be needed in the next six months.

Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of the UN World Health Organization said, "None of us experienced in containing outbreaks has ever seen, in our lifetimes, an emergency on this scale, with this degree of suffering and with this magnitude of cascading consequences."

Emphasising that the current reports, which show more than 5,500 people have been infected by Ebola and more than 2,500 killed by it in West Africa, are "vast underestimates," Dr. Chan said the WHO Ebola Response Roadmap outlines 12 critical actions.

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