AFRICAN UNION UNION AFRICAINE UNIÃO AFRICANA Addis Ababa, Ethiopia P. O. Box 3243 Telephone: +251 11 551 7700 / +251 11 518 25 58/ Ext 2558 Website: www. au.int. DIRECTORATE OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION PRESS RELEASE N0.23/ 24thAU SUMMIT Stakeholders stress on the post recovery period during a UN- AUC Working session on Ebola Addis Ababa, 29 January 2015- “The great task in the Ebola fight will be to focus on the reconstruction of the affected countries,” noted the African Union Commission Chairperson, Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, during the UN-AUC Working session on Ebola held today at the African Union Headquarters in Ethiopia in the framework of the ongoing 24th Summit of the African Union. The working session, chaired by the AUC Chairperson, was attended by various stakeholders engaged in the fight against the Ebola epidemic, including the countries affected, the Mano River organization, United Nations, World Health Organization (WHO), and other bilateral and multilateral partners. The working session aimed at presenting the current state of affairs on Ebola and starting discussions on how to support the different affected countries in their post recovery period. The different stakeholders, particularly the three most affected countries recognized the efforts of the AU to address the outbreak. The work of the African Union Support to the Ebola Outbreak in West Africa (ASEOWA) through the deployment of 835 health workers from across Africa has been evidence of the capacity of the continent to stand as one and show its sense of solidarity. The normalization of the situation with the reduction of the rate of infection and mortality observed, actually is the result of the mobilization at all levels. “A few months ago, Ebola was running after us, today we are running after Ebola”, commented the representative of Liberia. In the same vein, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sierra Leone said: “the Ebola response architecture is appropriate for every virus.” However, the battle is not yet over. The different stakeholders agreed on the necessity to go further in the fight and to find ways to address challenges like the stigmatization of the people from the affected countries, the high resistance of local populations, the communication and networking and the accommodation of the ASEOWA volunteers on the field which remain an obstacle to the success of this process, said African Union Commissioner for Social Affairs Dr Mustapha Kaloko.. Furthermore, the stakeholders pointed out the need to learn lessons from this outbreak and prepare for the future by reinforcing the health systems in Africa. In that regard, the Dr. Kaloko underscored the necessity for the African Union to establish the African Centre for disease control and prevention. They also agreed on the fact that the victory over Ebola will be the result of enhanced coordination between different stakeholders. The debt cancellation of the affected states will ease their economic recovery. However, Africa should remain the main actor in the fight. In that regard, the representative of UN said:” I believe African leadership and ownership is essential in that way.” JL For further information contact Directorate of Information and Communication | African Union Commission I E-mail: [email protected] I Web Site: www.au.int I Addis Ababa | Ethiopia Follow the AU Commission: Face book: https://www.facebook.com/AfricanUnionCommission Twitter: https://twitter.com/_AfricanUnion YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/AUCommission Learn more at: http://www.au.int