The Bureau of Public Affairs

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Monrovia, Liberia

NEWS SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY, AUGUST 7, 2014

Among stories dominating our summary of the local dailies today, Thursday, August 7, 2014 are news of President Johnson Sirleaf’s State of Emergency declaration in furtherance to measures in combating the deadly Ebola epidemic,  the US Government’s commitment to the fight against the Ebola virus in Liberia and West Africa, the National Elections Commission’s postponement of the Special Senatorial Elections  and the US Government’s deployment of  Disaster Assistance Response Team to West Africa to coordinate the U.S. Government’s response to the Ebola outbreak.

DOMINANT STORIES

Liberia In State Of Emergency Over Ebola Outbreak, Rights On Hold

The outbreak of the deadly Ebola Virus continues to be a huge challenge for Liberia, as the country continues to use medical means to tackle the deadly outbreak that has led to, 516 cases (143 confirmed, 252 probable, and 121 suspected), including 282 deaths, according to the World Health organization as of August 4 and President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf after declaring the virus a national emergency and taking several measures has indicated that despite these measures, the virus continues to cause more harm to the people of Liberia and has therefore declared a state of emergency. ’32 Health Care Workers Deaths’Said Sirleaf “With 32 deaths of health care workers, the death rate amongst citizens, especially amongst health care workers is very alarming, two weeks ago, I established a national task force which I chair myself to respond to this crisis and instructed all nonessential government staff to stay home for 30 days. Ordered the closure of schools and authorized the fumigation of all public buildings. We have shut markets in affected areas and have restricted movements in orders. We have improved our response time and contact tracking and began coordinating with regional and international partners. Despite these and continuing efforts the threats continue to grow, ignorance, poverty as well as entrenched religious and cultural practices continue to exacerbate the spread of the disease especially in the counties”.  According to the FrontPage Africa, President Johnson Sirleaf made the declaration in a state of the Nation Address on Wednesday, August 6, 2014.

Related Captions:President Sirleaf Declares State Of Emergency (Daily Observer), Ellen declares State of Emergency(Heritage), Ellen declares State of Emergency(New Dawn), Ebola Unrest Triggers State Of Emergency(The Analyst Newspaper), State of Emergency Certain Constitutional Rights And Privileges to Be Suspended(Daily Observer), Ellen Declares State of Emergency  for 90 Days(The Inquirer)

Obama, VP Boakai Chat Over Ebola

US President Barrack Obama has reaffirmed his country’s commitment to stand by Liberia and the West African region in the fight against the deadly Ebola virus disease. Speaking with Vice President Joseph Boakai Tuesday night at a White House dinner with African leaders attending the US - Africa Leaders Summit in Washington, DC, President Obama promised that the US will provide technical, material and financial support to help eradicate Ebola from Liberia and the sub-region. According to a dispatch fromWashington DC, the U.S. President also re-emphasized the commitment of his government to support the fight against Ebola epidemic now plaguing the sub-region when he addressed the formal opening of the US - Africa Leaders Summit on Wednesday at the State Department, the venue of the Summit. “I deeply regret the absence of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia and President Ernest Bai Koroma of Sierra Leone due to the outbreak of Ebola in their countries. America will do everything in its power to ensure that the virus is contained in Liberia and West Africa,” President Obama assured, New Dawn writes.

Related Captions: Obama: America Will Ensure Ebola Is Contained In Liberia and West Africa(Heritage), President Barack Obama Commits to fighting Deadly Virus in Chat with Vice President Boakai at White House Dinner Tackling Deadly Ebola(FrontPage Africa), Obama Commits to Ebola Fight(New Democrat), Pres. Obama Commits to Help Fight Ebola in Liberia(INSIGHT), Obama Commits to Ebola Fight—In Liberia, Chats With Boakai T White House Dinner(The News) US Pledges to Contain Ebola Outbreak in W. Africa(Daily Observer), Obama Commits to Fighting Ebola(In Profile Daily)

At Mercy Corps forum in US: VP Boakai Speaks Of Liberia’s Experience On Youth Empowerment

On the margins of the historic U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit taking place in Washington, D.C., the Head of the Liberian Delegation, Vice President Joseph N. Boakai, Sr., on Monday addressed a forum organized by the humanitarian organization Mercy Corps on the theme of “Empowering Africa’s Youth–Lessons from Liberia”. The Vice President later addressed a luncheon gathering on transparency in the management of Liberia’s natural resources, organized by the Open Society Foundations chaired by Billionaire George Soros. According to a dispatch from Washington, at the Mercy Corps event, Vice President Boakai shared Liberia’s experience in empowering its youth. In his presentation, the Liberian Vice President reflected on the country’s decade-long civil war and its impact on the country and its people, particularly the youth, who he said became a part of the “lost generation” due to the conflict. High unemployment, high incidence of illiteracy and lack of basic skills are among the factors that make young people vulnerable and manipulated, Vice President Boakai said. He said the government of Liberia is developing and implementing many youth development initiatives and interventions to address the challenges young people face, and that an accelerated learning program is at the core of interventions targeted at the many former combatants, adding the program gives motivation, self-esteem, and hope to such young people, reports the Heritage.

Related Caption: Veep Boakai Speaks of Liberia’s Experience on Youth Empowerment at Mercy Corps Forum (The Inquirer)

USAID, Center for Disease Control Announce Additional Assistance for West Africa Ebola

The U. S. Agency for International Development (USAID) will be deploying a Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) to West Africa to coordinate the U.S. Government’s response to the Ebola outbreak, which has so far sickened more than 1,600 people, including nearly 900 who have died from the disease. The team will comprise staff from the Agency’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance, who will be overseeing critical areas of the response, such as planning, operations, logistics in coordination with other federal agencies, including the U.S. Departments of Defense and Health and Human Services. Members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will also serve on the DART to lead on public health and medical response activities. USAID is also announcing an additional $5 million in assistance to help ramp up the international community’s Ebola response efforts. Specifically, this funding will go toward the expansion of Ebola outbreak programs the Agency is already supporting in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia, according to the Heritage Newspaper.

Related Captions: U.S. To Deploy Disaster Team…To Fight Ebola(The News), USAID, Center for Disease Control Announce More Assistance for West Africa Ebola(The Inquirer), USAID Provides US$5m for Ebola Fight(New Democrat), USAID, Center for Disease Control Announce Additional Assistance for West Africa Ebola(INSIGHT), Additional US$5m Pumped into Ebola Fray- As USAID Deploys Disaster Assistance Response Team(In Profile Daily)

“Election on hold”- NEC recommends

The National Elections Commission (NEC) through its chairman has recommended the postponement of the October 14, 2014 Special Senatorial Election due to the Ebola Virus outbreak. Cllr. Jerome George Korkoya told independent and political parties’ candidates in Monrovia at the headquarters of NEC that the commission is finding it difficult to conduct election with the Ebola Virus. Chairman Korkoya said the NEC may be unable to deploy staff in the field to conduct Civic/Voter Education as well as recruit and deploy 25,000 polling staff at polling centers in Liberia. Chairman Korkoya said the Commission’s recommendation is also based on the fact that the Ebola outbreak would hinder the smooth conduct of campaign activities by candidates who are desirous of contesting the October 14, 2014 Special Senatorial Election, the New Dawn reports.

Related Captions: NEC Wants Election Postponed to Dec.(The Inquirer), Elections Postponed(New Democrat)

Liberia, Others Get US$5bn Electricity Boost

The New Dawn Newspaperreports that Liberia and five other African countries, including Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia and Tanzania are to benefit from a World Bank Group US5 billion supports towards their energy projects, which have partnered with President Obama’s Power Africa Initiative. Making the announcement on the second day of the 1st US-Africa Summit, World Bank Group President, Dr. Jim Yong Kim, said the new financial commitment was urgently needed to generate more electricity for the people of Africa, 600 million of whom have no access to electricity, despite the fact that Africa possesses some of the world’s largest hydropower, geothermal, wind and solar potential, as well as significant oil and natural gas reserves. “We think that the U.S. Power Africa initiative will play an extremely important role in achieving the goal of providing electricity for Africa.  So today I'm very pleased to announce that the World Bank Group, following President Obama's lead, will partner with Power Africa by committing $5 billion in direct financing, investment guarantees, and advisory services for project preparation in Power Africa's six initial partner countries, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, and Tanzania. 

Related Caption: World Bank Commits US$5bn to Boost Electricity in Africa(Daily Observer)

Spain Flies Priest Out

The Spanish Government on Wednesday evacuated from Liberia a Catholic Priest, Brother Miguel Pajares who contracted the deadly Ebola virus while offering prayers for the late Patrick Sawyer's sister at the Christian run St. Joseph Catholic Hospital in Monrovia.  The hospital has been shut down temporarily like many others after the virus spread there, asserts the New Dawn Newspaper.

Related Caption: Ebola Hits More Doctors(In Profile Daily)

Ebola Attacks Kakata: 4 Die, 11 Infected At C.H. Rennie Hospital

According to the Daily Observer, the Medical Director at the C.H. Rennie Hospital in Kakata, Margibi County, Dr. AdolphusYeiah has disclosed that One nurse has died and 11 others working at the hospital are showing symptoms of the Ebola disease. The Daily Observer quotes Dr. Yeiah as saying that as the result of the ongoing deaths of nurses and other support staff, his administration is contemplating shutting down the hospital if results of specimens taken from other nurses and sent for testing in Monrovia prove positive. Dr. Yeiah added that the decision to close the hospital down "is intended to be a warning sign to the public and other institutions that the situation could go from bad to worse, as there are other sensitive health-related issues that we are closely monitoring as well." The situation has left the hospital partially abandoned by the nurses, "because they have been complaining about the lack of personal protective equipment (PPEs), but to no avail." According to Dr. Yeiah, one of the Ebola victims, a lab technician, Steven Blamah, contracted the virus along with the other 11 other nurses (not named) from one of their late colleagues, John Quaye.

Related Caption:Nurse killed, 11 show Ebola symptoms in Kakata(Heritage)

OTHER STORIES

FAO Supports Health Ministy In Ebola Fight

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is supporting the Government Liberia through the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to maintain an active surveillance system in tracking and monitoring trends and outcomes of the prevalence of the Ebola Virus disease in the country. For this purpose, FAO has organized two-days of training several pieces of High Tech (IT) equipment. These include 18 tablet PCs and one computer with accessories; they will be used in the EpiCollect data collection and storage technology to enable staff of the Ministry of Health to collect, store and monitor data emanating from Ebola cases in the counties, pens the Daily Observer.

25 Inmates Regain Freedom

The New Democrat says the Justice Ministry restored freedom to at least 25 inmates on Wednesday after series of consultations with judicial authorities. Solicitor General Cllr. Betty Lamun-Blamo says the Ministry was concerned about over crowdedness, especially in the wake of the deadly Ebola outbreak in the country. Cllr. Lamin-Blamo said after a meeting with Associate Justices, a decision was reached to release some detainees accused of non-violent offenses.

Liberian Movie Star In Town For Ebola Awareness

The Inquirer newspaper writes that Liberia movie star; Frank Artus has arrived in the country and has joined the Ebola awareness campaign. Mr. Artus who visited many areas, said he was happy to be back home as a Liberian to contribute to the awareness and sensitization activities against the spread of the Ebola Virus which has claimed the lives of many Liberians.

‘Right To Play’ Donates To Health Ministry

Right to Play-Liberia, a global organization, using the transformative power of play to educate and empower children and youths, yesterday donated food and assorted anti-Ebola materials to the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in Monrovia. The items included 101 bags of 25kg rice, 17 cartoons of chloride and 100 pieces of detergent liquid soap as well as 100 pieces of rubber buckets and cups. The Program Officer of Right to Play-Liberia, Wilfred Y. Ballah, who did not state the cost of the items, told journalists that the donation is to save lives, Daily Observer reports.

Supreme Court Resumes Normal Activities

The Daily Observer reports that after closing over the weekend as part of it precautionary measure against the spread of the deadly Ebola virus, the Supreme Court on Monday, August 4, resumed normal activities. The High Court was among several government institutions that were temporary shut down for spraying of the entire offices and building including the entire compound of Temple of Justice. The moved was intended to ensure the safety of employees of the Judiciary Branch of the government, after an employee of that institution was believed to have been killed by the deadly Ebola virus that had claimed the over hundreds of  lives, including medical practitioner in the country. At Monday’s opening, Judges were seen performing their usual duties by proceeding with cases.