Ambassador Brigety outlined the AU’s response to Ebola, covering both the organization’s successes in the containment effort as well as the lingering challenges that the AU and its member states face. He also discussed the specific modalities of the Ebola response, the potential social, economic, and public health ramifications of the 2014 crisis for the African continent in coming years, and the conspicuous role that the AU will continue to play in the collective fight against the disease.

Ambassador Reuben E. Brigety, II, was appointed Representative of the United States of America to the African Union and Permanent Representative of the United States to the UN Economic Commission of Africa on September 3, 2013. Prior to this appointment, Ambassador Brigety served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of African Affairs from November 14, 2011 until September 3, 2013 with responsibility for Southern African and Regional Security Affairs. He has also worked at the Center for American Progress, USAid, the U.S. Central Command Assessment Team, and at George Mason University, where he was an assistant professor of government and politics. Ambassador Brigety is a distinguished midshipman graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, and holds a M. Phil and a PhD in international relations from the University of Cambridge, England.