THE BUREAU OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Monrovia, Liberia

NEWS SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2014

Stories dominating our summary of the local dailies today include the Italian Government’s donation of medical aide and food supply to help in the fight against Ebola, President Johnson Sirleaf’s meeting with leaders of registered political parties on the current Ebola virus outbreak in Liberia, the European Commission’s announcement of a €140M funding for Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria and Government’s plan to capacitate local community leaderships to take ownership of the fight against Ebola as a key step in eradicating the disease.

DOMINANT STORIES

Italy Donates Toward Ebola Fight

The Italian Government is the latest so far to join the list of foreign countries sending medical aide and food supply here to help in the fight against Ebola. Italy's packages include the dispatching of a mobile laboratory team and homeopathic Ebola treatment drugs and food to help the government in its Ebola fight here. A Foreign Ministry release discloses that the aid packages followed a series of frantic diplomatic efforts between the Liberian Ambassador to Italy, Ambassador (Dr) Mohamed Sheriff and the Italian Government and other multinational organizations in that European nation. The release further adds that the team of four member medical experts being headed by Dr. Antonino Dicaro, the Director of the Microbiology Laboratory and Infectious Disease Biorepository arrived in the country Friday, September 5, 2014 at the Roberts International Airport in Margibi County and was received upon arrival by the Foreign Ministry Protocol Officers. Other members of the team include Dr. Frances Colavita, Dr. Angela Cannas, and Ms. Serena Quartu, (a laboratory technician). The release further discloses that a box containing some homeopathic Ebola treatment drugs has been sent to the Liberian Embassy in Rome, Italy by Dr. Alessandra Manini of the International Emergency Management Organization for onward transmission to the Liberian Health Minister, Dr. Walter Gwenigale. At the same time, the World Food Program (WFP) in Rome has stepped up the Emergency Assistance and Logistical Support in the fight against the deadly Ebola epidemic in Liberia which has been delivered to quarantined communities in Bomi, Bong, Cape Mount, Grand Bassa, Lofa, Margibi, Montserrado, Nimba and RiverCess Counties for about 39,000 affected persons including 13,500 people in West Point and Dolo’s Town respectively,reports the New Dawn Newspaper.

Related Captions:Italy Aides Ebola Fight - Sends Mobile Lab Team, Food, Drugs(Frontpage Africa), Italy Dispatches Mobile Lab. Team, Food, Drugs To Liberia(Insight Newspaper), Italy Enhances Liberia’s Ebola Fight … Dispatches Mobile Lab Team, Food, Drugs(Inquirer)

EU Announces €140m Package In Response To Ebola Virus Outbreak

According to FrontPage Africa, The European Commission has today announced €140M of funding for the countries currently affected by the Ebola virus in West Africa: Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Nigeria.  €38 million of the new package is specifically designed to help those governments bolster their health services (for example through reinforcing treatment centers or support for health workers), both during the crisis and in the recovery phase. It will also provide support in the areas of food security, water and sanitation, which are essential in terms of safeguarding the health of the population. Announcing the support today during his official visit to Benin, European Commissioner for Development,  Andris Piebalgs, said:  "The ongoing Ebola crisis remains extremely a concern; not just because of its obvious impact on health services, but also due to the wider challenges it brings to the region in terms of economic stability, food security, water and sanitation. Our package shows that the EU continues to be committed to a strong, coordinated international response and will do all it can to help governments in those countries affected in the areas where it is most needed.”

 
Related Captions: EU Announces €140m Package In Response To Ebola Virus Outbreak(Frontpage Africa), EU Announces €140m Ebola Package (Focus), EU Announces €140m Ebola Package In Response To Ebola Virus Outbreak(Heritage), EU Announces €140m Ebola Package …In Response To Ebola Virus Outbreak(The News), EU Gives €140 To West Africa Ebola Response(INSIGHT)

Ellen Meets Officials of Registered Parties On Ebola

According to the New Dawn Newspaper, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has met with the leaders and representatives of registered political parties on the current Ebola virus outbreak in Liberia. An Executive Mansion release says, the meeting, which was held in the C. Cecil Dennis Auditorium on Friday, September 5, brought together several registered political parties/coalitions, including the National Patriotic Party (NPP), Congress for Democratic Change (CDC), Alternative National Congress (ANC), Alliance for Peace and Democracy (APD), National Democratic Coalition (NDC), All Liberia Coalition Party, Liberty Party, among others. President Sirleaf welcomed the political party leaders and provided updates on the different plans and interventions made by the government since the latest outbreak of the Ebola virus disease. She underscored the critical importance of the involvement of all Liberians including leaders of political parties and their membership in efforts to contain the virus.

Related Captions: Ellen Meets Political Leaders on Ebola Crisis…As Party Leaders Call for Proactive Actions to Mitigate Potential Post-Ebola Economic Crisis(Daily Observer). Pres. Sirleaf Consolidates in Ebola Fight-Meets Political Parties’ Leaders, West Point Residents(The Analyst), Political Leaders Want Attention For Health Workers(New Democrat), Pres. Sirleaf Meets With PoliticalLeaders on Ebola Crisis(INSIGHT)

Gov’t To Capacitate Community Leaders To Fight Ebola

Information Minister Lewis Brown says Government has identified the strengthening of local community leaderships to take ownership of the fight against Ebola as a key step in eradicating the disease. The Minister attributed this government strategy to positive outcomes emanating from West Point where the local leadership has been able to take ownership of the fight against the deadly disease since the areas was quarantined. Minister Brown has said the government has already convened consultative meetings of Caldwell, New Kru Town, New Georgia and other communities with Monrovia on the possibility of replicating similar measure instituted in West Point without possibly isolating those communities, pens the Insight Newspaper.

Related Captions: Gov’t To Capacitate Community Leaders to Fight Ebola(FOCUS), Gov’t To Capacitate Community Leaders to Fight Ebola(Heritage)

OTHER STORIES

Coca-Cola Battles Ebola – Invests Initial US$13,500

Amid incessant national and international efforts to battle and crush world’s latest daunting and deadly Ebola virus which has initially invaded three West African Countries, including Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia and reportedly spreading across the Region, the Liberia Coca-Cola Bottling Company (LCCBC), has made an initial huge contribution in cash, water and anti-Ebola sanitizing materials, amongst others, as part of effort to eradicate the killer disease and help those who have already contracted the virus and undergoing treatment. LCCBC’s Country Manager, Mr. Seth-AduBaah, said as corporate entity operating in Liberia, it was timely and absolutely necessary for the company to join the nation-wide campaign against the deadly virus in an effort to save precious lives which are under threat following the unprecedented outbreak of the virulent disease, The Inquirer reports.

Joint Task Force Tours Ebola-Threatened Counties

Brigadier General Daniel D. Ziankhan, Jr., Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL), for the first time, led a high-powered Joint Security Task Force (JTF) assessment tour to Rivercess, Margibi, Bomi and Grand Cape Mount Counties regarding the fight against the deadly Ebola from Wednesday - Thursday, 3-4 September 2014 respectively, The Analyst reports.

VP Boakai Launches Weekly Prayer Service

Vice President Joseph N. Boakai today launched a weekly prayer service at the Providence Baptist Church Shrine here which will run for the next three months under the theme ‘A call to unceasing prayers’ in the wake of the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in Liberia and the Sub region. The Weekly Prayer Service will focus on prayer against Ebola in the sub region and for peace and stability, In Profile Daily reports.

Related Caption: Ebola Prayer Service Launch(Daily Observer)

Sa. Leone Gov’t Takes Strong Action against Ebola – Locks Up Country for Three Days

Sierra Leone, one of the country’s worst hit by West Africa’s Ebola outbreak – has announced a three-day lockdown to try to tackle the disease. From 19 to 21 September people will not be allowed to leave their homes, a senior official said. The aim of the move is to allow health workers toisolate new cases to prevent the disease from spreading further,The Inquirer reports.

Youth Ministry Deploys 250 for Ebola Sensitization

According to the FOCUS newspaper, the Ministry of Youth and Sports has deployed 250 youths in communities in Montserrado County to carry out sensitization and awareness on the danger of the Ebola virus. Youth and Sport Director of Communication Nathaniel Paykue said the deployment of youths forms part of the Ministry’s effort to contain the spread of the Ebola virus. He said fighting the virus should not be left with government alone and must be considered “a serious fight against an enemy of the State”, adding “this enemy has the ability to destroy the nation’s human resource development”.

Related Caption: Youth Ministry Deploys 250 for Ebola Sensitization(Heritage)

Stranded Liberians, Others Seek Work Permits In U.S

The Universal Human Rights International (UHRI) has petitioned the Obama administration to grant work permits to nationals of Ebola ravaged West African countries in the United States of America to be granted employment authorization. The UHRI said consistent with the immigration Act of 1990, established by congress to provide TPS/DED, to immigrants in the USA who are temporarily unable to return to their home country because of the ongoing armed conflict an environmental disaster or extraordinary and temporary conditions, The Inquirer reports.

“Serious, Deeply Worrying”…UN Seeks Global Support To Curb Ebola Spread

TheNews newspaper reports that the rapidity at which the Ebola virus is spreading across the West African subregion has attracted the attention of the global community with the United Nations echoing that the disease is “critically serious and deeply worrying”. UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson said the fear factor plays a strong role in the crisis. He urged member states of the UN, businesses and individuals to take decisions based on scientific evidence, not on fear. He explained that misinformation about Ebola can only exacerbate an already dire or fragile situation in the impacted countries and beyond. UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson made the statement on Tuesday, September 3, 2014 at a meeting with member states on Ebola at the United Nations.