Assembly/AU/Dec.554(XXIV) DECISION ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE AFRICAN CENTRE OF DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION (AFRICAN CDC) Doc. Assembly/AU/4(XXIV) The Assembly, 1. TAKES NOTE of the Report of the Commission on the establishment of the African Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (African CDC) and the recommendations contained therein; 2. ENDORSES the establishment of the African CDC; 3. WELCOMES the fruitful cooperation between the Commission and Ethiopia towards the rapid establishment of the Centre, through their active participation in the work of the Multinational Taskforce in charge of the project; 4. EXPRESSES IMMENSE SATISFACTION for efforts made by the Commission to speed up the process for the establishment of the Centre by mid-2015, pursuant to the relevant Executive Council and Assembly decisions; 5. APPROVES that the Coordination Office should initially be at the Headquarters of the African Union in Addis Ababa, and should work closely with already existing Centres in the different regions of the Continent and REQUESTS the Commission in collaboration with Member States to put in place necessary arrangements and coordination towards mechanisms of the operationalization of existing regional centers for mounting rapid response to emergency public health crisis such as the Ebola outbreak; 6. TAKES NOTE of the proposed structures and the financial implications which amount to approximately 5 million US dollars to cover the expenses for the establishment and operation of the Centre for the initial 18-month period; 7. AUTHORIZES the Commission to undertake the mobilization of funds from Member States, and development partners and the private sector who have already indicated an interest and with experience in the domain; 8. REQUESTS the Commission, in close collaboration with the Multinational Taskforce, to consider the practical modalities for the operationalization of the Centre and report thereon to the Assembly in June 2015; 9. REQUESTS the STC on Justice and Legal Affairs to consider the statute of the African CDC and submit it to the 25th Ordinary Session of the Assembly.