Emergency grant aid in response to the Ebola virus disease outbreak in West African countries

TOKYO, Japan, October 3, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — 1. On October 3, the Government of Japan decided to extend emergency grant aid of 22 million US dollars (approximately 2.4 billion yen) through the World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and other international organizations in order to respond to the Ebola virus disease outbreak in West African countries.

2. The Ebola virus disease, which was initially reported in the Republic of Guinea this March, has spread to neighboring countries such as the Republic of Liberia and the Republic of Sierra Leone. 7,177 infected persons (3,338 fatalities) had been confirmed as of September 28 in the West African region of Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Nigeria, and the disease is spreading so rapidly that further immediate countermeasures are required.

3. In light of this situation, the United Nations issued an appeal for an exceptional, international response to Ebola outbreak in West Africa on September 16. At the UN Security Council, the resolution (No. 2177) calling for support in responding to the spread of the Ebola virus disease was adopted and a resolution to set up the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) was adopted by consensus at the UN General Assembly on September 19. Furthermore, on September 25 the High-level Meeting on Response to the Ebola Virus Disease Outbreak was convened in New York by UN Secretary-General Mr. Ban Ki-moon, where Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed his intention that the Government of Japan would extend additional aid of 40 million US dollars (approximately 4.4 billion yen), and many other UN Member States also announced additional aid.

4. This emergency grant aid will be implemented as one part of the above-mentioned 4

Source: AFRICAWIN