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I thank Mr. Nabarro, Mrs. Chang and Dr. Fallah and ambassador O. Skoog (Chair of the PBC) for their comprehensive briefings and for their work in fighting the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. I also commend the Nigerian Presidency for its initiative to convene this timely Council briefing on Peace and Security in Africa and Ebola. Ebola outbreak has been claimed to be "nearly over" for months, yet it continues to claim lives in Sierra Leone and Guinea. It takes only one infection and a delayed collective response to spark another disastrous epidemic. There is simply no room for complacency when we deal with epidemics of this kind.

As we look ahead at the strategies for the post-Ebola recovery, we must not forget the lessons learned.

First of all, the epidemic has once again proved that prevention and early action are key in making future crises less devastating and costly.  Ebola has struck countries which have only recently come out of conflict, impairing their hard-won path to peace and development as their fragile healthcare systems and governance structures struggled with this new invisible enemy. At the same time, the outbreak highlighted how important are national governments’ rapid initial efforts to combat the outbreak and the effective early response, as well as the vital role of grassroots and community organizations in reducing transmission rates.

Timely involvement of regional and sub-regional organizations was instrumental. The rapid deployment of trained medical and support personnel, coordinated by the African Union Support to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, helped to save thousands at the peak of the outbreak. The African Union Commission, with the support of bilateral partners, has advanced the initiative to establish the Africa Centre for Disease Control (CDC) that has a potential to contribute to greater preparedness and resilience in tackling similar epidemics on the continent. These initiatives testify to the leadership and ownership of the region, and should be encouraged.

The UN system, working closely with the World Health Organization, has demonstrated its ability to mobilize and ensure an immediate, effective and coordinated contribution in combating the outbreak. The UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) and the Global Ebola Response Coalition enabled and facilitated this unprecedented response and cooperation. Engagement of the Security Council has also helped to focus the international community’s attention to peace and security threats posed by the Ebola to fragile post-conflict nations. UN peacekeeping and political missions in the affected region, in particular the UNMIL, supported the efforts to combat and prevent further spread of the epidemic.

This helped to sustain the effort of bringing Ebola cases down to zero and supporting the post-Ebola recovery in the crisis affected countries. The U.N. Pledging Conference on Ebola earlier in July demonstrated the international community’s ability to maintain its attention on putting the most affected countries on the path to recovery. The confirmation by the WHO that the newly developed vaccine against the deadly virus is highly effective and could help to prevent its spread also gives us hope that with necessary mobilization, prevention mechanisms and adequate resources the Ebola epidemic of such scale will never happen again.

Madame President,

Ebola crisis has disrupted peacebuilding efforts of the three West African countries, while affecting their economies, trade and tourism, basic healthcare and social services, food security and education. It has changed livelihoods and broken community ties, with a disproportionate impact on most vulnerable groups, such as women, children and the elderly.

The burden of the epidemic was particularly harsh on women because of their role as care givers, health personnel and providers for their families. Each of the Ebola-affected countries has seen larger numbers of women victims of the epidemic than men. The outbreak has also affected women through loss of livelihoods since productivity in agriculture, trade and service sectors fell sharply and is yet to recover. Therefore, besides being physically affected by the epidemic, women have seen reversals in their economic and social empowerment.  Inevitably, effective preventive and recovery strategies must be developed in order to make sure that women have full say on all related matters, both as beneficiaries and as decision makers.

The epidemic’s negative impact on children is also multifaceted. Birth registrations of more than 70 thousand children have been disrupted during the Ebola outbreak, depriving them of their rights, leaving them in a social no-man’s land, vulnerable to marginalization as non-citizens, easy prey to human traffickers, recruiters and illegal adoption handlers.

Ebola orphans are another highly vulnerable group. Across the affected countries, some 30 000 children have been orphaned by Ebola, nearly 60 per cent living in isolated rural areas. Some are shunned and stigmatized due to baseless fear of infection. Too many face increased risks of physical and sexual abuse. Female orphans are particularly vulnerable to sexual exploitation, rape and teenage pregnancies.  Post-Ebola recovery strategies must therefore include adequate child protection measures and provide for a viable future, reintegrating such children into the community life, empowering them to support themselves and receive education, while also providing guidance and psycho-social counselling.

Madame President,

Strengthening the resilience of Ebola affected countries requires giving all vulnerable groups have a say in their future. This can only be done through strengthening of institutions, rule of law, good governance and respect of human rights, including through the multi-stakeholder dialogue and civil society engagement.

The UN system and the international community must continue to be vigilant and support Ebola recovery long after the crisis is no longer the front-page news. Moreover, we should make sure that the painful lessons of this epidemic are not lost in bolstering our preparedness and response to future health emergencies.

Thank you.