Thank you, Helen Clark, Administrator of UNDP, for moderating this very important meeting.
I would like to thank the Presidents of the affected African countries – the President of Guinea,the President of Liberia, and the President of Sierra Leone – and I would also like to thankPresident Mugabe who is participating in his capacity as President of the African Union.
And I would also like to thank Dr. Margaret Chan, Director General of the WHO for herleadership.
Thank you all Ministers and dignitaries who have taken such very valuable time to be with us,to be with the people of Africa particularly affected by Ebola.
I think we can overcome this one, and I think we are now overcoming it but we have to gountil the end, until we see the last patient cured and there will be no further cases.
I would also like to thank the World Bank President, and the IMF Managing Director and themany international and regional development banks, including the African Development Bankand the Islamic Development Bank, and the European Union.
It is a great honour to have you. Thank you for accepting my invitation to participate and toshow your solidarity for the people affected by this Ebola virus.
Excellence, Mesdames et Messieurs,
Merci de participer à cette conférence internationale sur le relèvement après l'Ebola.
La tâche qui nous attend est immense: il s'agit de concrétiser nos promesses de solidaritéconcrete, tournés vers l'action.
Je vous demande de vous joindre à moi pour apporter un soutien durable aux populations despays touchés par l'Ebola.
Let me begin by thanking the many donors who have come together, along with governments,civil society organizations, national and international responders, development banks andfoundations, as part of a broad-based global coalition to support the nationally-led responseefforts.
I applaud the African Union and its plan to convene an International Conference on Africa'sFight against Ebola later this month in Malabo.
I commend the African Union for galvanizing African leaders, businesses and communities insolidarity with the affected countries. This regional unity has been essential to bringing theoutbreak under control – and will be critical to effective recovery. I commend the morethan 800 African volunteers who deployed through the AU Ebola support mechanism.
I also thank the countries that answered my call to send in logistical support, medical teams,crisis managers and aid for safe and dignified burials.
Thousands of women and men from within and outside the countries put their lives on the lineto slow the advance of this disease.
Thanks to these partners – and too many others to name – we have come a long way incontaining the outbreak.
The General Assembly took decisive action, endorsing the UN Mission for Ebola EmergencyResponse – UNMEER. I thank His Excellency Sam Kutesa, President of the General Assembly, forhis continued leadership in keeping the membership seized with this issue.
As UNMEER prepares to close next month, the UN will maintain the dedicated high-levelleadership under WHO together with the UN country teams, in its support to help the affectedcountries get to zero.
The strategy to end the outbreak is working – but the final stretch of the response remainsparticularly challenging.
Cases in Guinea and Sierra Leone have been reduced considerably. The response is being fine-tuned to focus on increasing engagement, awareness and contact tracing in the remainingaffected communities.
New cases in Liberia show the need for continued vigilance given the regional risks. TheLiberian Government's proactive actions also underscore how the response strategy haseffectively reinforced national capacities and knowledge to be activated for future outbreaks.
But the impacts of the Ebola crisis have been far-reaching and much work is needed to supportthe countries.
The outbreak has eroded progress on peace and development. It has disrupted health andsocial services.
Many major economic sectors have been affected: agriculture, mining, trade, tourism,transport, fisheries and livestock. The functioning of schools, hospitals and other publicinfrastructure has suffered.
All of these disruptions have had a negative impact on the economies of all three countries –which were, prior to the Ebola outbreak, on a positive growth trajectory.
This negative impact – on economies, livelihoods and more importantly lives – demands thatthe global community continues to prioritize recovery from Ebola even long after the crisissubsides. This will be essential to “stay at zero” in order to strengthen resilience towithstand future shocks.
Your continued generosity will help the affected countries carry out their plans for recoveryover the next two years.
Our shared goal is to build back stronger, safer and more resilient capacities for preventionand response. That means access to health services everywhere – not just in capitals. It meanshealth services equipped to not only respond to extraordinary outbreaks like Ebola, but toaddress malaria, cholera and other common ailments.
Investing in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia will yield global dividends in preventing localoutbreaks from becoming national emergencies and regional pandemics.
That is why today is about more than speeches and pledges – it is a chance to forge apartnership for a better future – a future that is full of opportunity and free of Ebola.
Our task is also to learn from our shortcomings and translate the lessons learned from this crisisin building back better. To do anything less would compound the tragedy.
I particularly welcome WHO's lessons learned process and its plans for reform. Just this week,WHO welcomed the report from the independent Ebola Interim Assessment Panel. WHO hasindicated that it is already moving forward to implement a number of the Panel'srecommendations.
In addition, I have appointed a High-Level Panel on the Global Response to Health Crises,headed by His Excellency President Kikwete of the United Republic of Tanzania.
The Panel is now working on the pressing question of how to strengthen national andinternational systems to prevent and manage future health crises. I look forward to itsrecommendations.
More broadly, we have to learn from the Ebola outbreak responding to the crisis phase is notenough. With any outbreak, we have to do more than end the caseload. We must lay thefoundation for true health security by going the extra distance – as we pledge today – tocreate strong health systems that can prevent any recurrence and withstand any futureoutbreak.
Presidents Condé, Koroma and Johnson Sirleaf have shown admirable statesmanship.
Thanks to your support, we can largely be proud of what we have achieved in responding to thisunprecedented crisis.
Yet we cannot breathe a sigh of relief – instead, let us collectively take a deep breath andresolve to finish the job.
I call on you to be part of this historic push to end the Ebola outbreak in West Africa andsupport the leaders and people of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone in returning to a path ofsustainable development.
Together, let us jumpstart a robust recovery over the next two years, and usher in a betterfuture for generations to come.
Thank you for your support and leadership. Thank you very much.
