 Abnormally wet conditions are continuing for several nations in the western Gulf of Guinea region

 Moisture deficits worsen further in southeast Sudan, Eritrea and parts of Ethiopia with a continued lack of rainfall.

1. A premature cessation of rains for bimodal regions of southern Ghana, Togo, and Benin has led to increased moisture deficits and negative impacts. A delayed onset of the rainy season, followed by poorly-distributed rainfall, led to abnormal dryness across Burkina Faso, the central and northern parts of Ghana, Togo, and Benin, western and southern Niger, and northern Nigeria.

2. A delayed onset and general lack of rainfall has resulted in abnormal dryness across northwestern portions of Ethiopia, western Eritrea, and eastern Sudan. The most impacted states in Sudan are Gadaref, Sinar, and Blue Nile, including important agricultural regions where much planting is being delayed. Additionally, a delay in any substantial rainfall for eastern Amhara Province in Ethiopia is already negatively impacting vegetation there

3. Infrequent and light rains since the beginning of the season have led to insufficient rainfall totals to date for some southern portions of Chad. Affected regions include Batha, Biltine, and Ouaddai. A rainfall performance between 5 and 50% of normal thus far has led to low soil moisture and poor conditions for vegetation.

4. A slightly delayed start to the season with only sporadic light rains in recent weeks has resulted in abnormal dryness for Gambia and central areas of Senegal. Dry ground conditions have reportedly led to delayed planting and negatively impacted the

SUMMARY

 There were 7 confirmed cases of Ebola virus disease (EVD) reported in the week to 26 July: 4 in Guinea and 3 in Sierra Leone. This is the lowest weekly total for over a year, and comes after 8 consecutive weeks during which case incidence had plateaued at between 20 and 30 cases per week. Although this decline in case incidence is welcome, it is too early to tell whether it will be sustained. There have been several high-risk events in both Guinea and Sierra Leone in the past 14 days, and past experience has shown that it can take a single high-risk case or missed contact to spark a new cluster of cases. In addition, there are over 2000 contacts still within their 21-day follow-up period in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, representing a substantial residual risk of further cases. Refinements to the response continue to yield improvements, with recent weeks seeing a higher proportion of cases arising from contacts and a lower proportion of cases identified post-mortem than at any time previously, but the continued occurrence of high-risk transmission events means that an increase in case incidence in the near term is a strong possibility.

 In Guinea, cases were restricted to a small geographical area in Conakry (3 cases) and the nearby prefecture Coyah (1 case). The large prefecture of Forecariah, which has seen widespread transmission since the start of the year, reported no cases for the first time since January 2015, although there are still over 700 contacts under follow-up in the prefecture. For the first time in the outbreak, all cases reported from Guinea were registered contacts. All 3 of the cases from Conakry were registered contacts associated with a chain of transmission that originated in the prefecture of Dubreka. The remaining case from Coyah was a registered contact associated with a chain of transmission that originated in Forecariah. For the first time since September 2014, no EVD-positive community deaths were reported from Guinea.

 No new cases were reported from Liberia in the week to 26 July. Of the 6 confirmed cases reported since 29 June, 2 have died, and the remaining 4 have now all been discharged after treatment. There are currently 33 contacts under follow-up in Liberia, all of whom will have completed the 21-day follow-up period by 2 August.

 The 3 confirmed cases in Sierra Leone were reported from Freetown (2 cases) and Tonkolili (1 case). Both cases from Freetown were registered contacts who were residing in a voluntary quarantine facility at the time of symptom onset, and were rapidly isolated. The remaining case from Tonkolili, a district east of Freetown in the centre of the country, is assessed as posing a substantial risk of further transmission. The case travelled to Tonkolili from an area near the Magazine Wharf neighbourhood of Freetown on 16 July, and died on 23 July in a community hospital, where he was confirmed EVD-positive after post-mortem testing. The case visited at least two health facilities between 19 and 21 July, and over 500 contacts have been identified so far.
Investigations are ongoing to establish the source of infection and identify and trace all contacts.

 One new health worker infection was reported from Conakry, Guinea, in the week to 26 July. Guinea has reported health worker infections in 5 of the past 6 weeks. No health worker infections were reported from Sierra Leone, but several health workers are listed as contacts of the case in Tonkolili. There have been a total of 880 confirmed health worker infections reported from Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone since the start of the outbreak, with 510 reported deaths.

In Sierra Leone post-harvest loses pose a serious challenge to smallholders and cause food insecurity and reduced income. This is why Cordaid and CRS promoted the Purdue Improved Crop Storage (PICS) Bag in Kailahun district in 2015. This bag helps thousands of households, even to store surpluses for several seasons. The success is immense. Local media report how hundreds of farmer groups in northern Sierra Leone express their desire to obtain the new bags.

Cordaid provided about 1200 smallholder farmers with 2000 triple layer plastic grain-storage PICS bags, increasing the food security and income of around 7200 people in Kailahun. Kailahun, in eastern Sierra Leone, is where the Ebola outbreak was most severe and affected all aspects of daily life, including food production and food security.

A run on new bags

As a rule, farmers often continue to store their seeds and grains in non-secured ways because they have no alternatives. Now, with the information that Cordaid, CRS and Purdue University have introduced the PICS bags in the country, hundreds of famer groups are asking to make them available for the next planting season. As local radio stations air PICS bags adverts farmers across the country now show their interest in the novel storage aid. As “PICS bags bring peace to us” Kenema farmers confirmed to a local newspaper.

Sack distribution networks

Local entrepreneurs and rural communities are now starting new businesses focused on purchasing the PICS bags from manufacturers and selling them to farmers through their retail networks. This helps us to create sustainable sack distribution networks all over the country.

Background information

Sierra Leoneans spend 50 to 70% of their income on food, especially rice. Most of this food is produced by local smallholders. Over the period 2003-2013 post-harvest losses amounted to 12-24%. The PICS technology helps to eliminate storage losses of dry grains and to protect harvests against insects without using chemical insecticides. It very effectively increases storage capacity in the short term.

Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | Wednesday 7/29/2015 - 18:24 GMT

The World Health Organization on Wednesday hailed the fewest weekly infections for over a year in the west African Ebola epidemic, but warned they were braced for a significant new outbreak in Sierra Leone.

There were just four confirmed cases in Guinea in the week to Sunday and three in Sierra Leone, the WHO said in the latest of its weekly updates on the epidemic.

But it warned that one of the Sierra Leone cases, a patient who died after travelling from the capital Freetown to the central district of Tonkolili, posed "a substantial risk of further transmission".

"On July 19 the case attended a community hospital complaining of a headache, and was treated as an outpatient and discharged," the WHO said.

"Two days later on July 21, the case presented to a different hospital and was isolated on admission. The patient died on July 23 and was confirmed (Ebola) positive after post-mortem testing.

"Over 500 contacts have been listed so far, several of whom are deemed to be high risk. Investigations are ongoing to establish the source of infection and identify and trace all contacts."

The WHO said all of the 500-plus contacts are in Tonkolili, which reported its first new case of Ebola earlier this month, ending a 150-day run of no new infections.

Around 28,000 people have been infected in the two countries and neighbouring Liberia in the worst Ebola outbreak in history, more than 11,000 of them fatally, according to official data widely seen as an underestimate.

Sierra Leone's President Ernest Bai Koroma has unveiled a two-year post-Ebola "battle plan" to reinvigorate the private sector as an engine for economic growth and job creation.

The programme will be funded by more than $804 million (730 million euros) earmarked for Sierra Leone at this month's UN Pledging Conference on Ebola.

There was better news elsewhere, with Liberia reporting no new cases in the week to Sunday, following a small outbreak a month ago which dashed hopes that the country had eradicated the spread of the virus among humans for good.

Six people were confirmed infected in the first cluster of cases for three months. Two of them died, but the remaining four have been given the all clear and the country is once again dealing with no known cases.

For the first time since the epidemic emerged in December 2013, Guinea's new cases were all registered contacts of previous Ebola patients, a strong indicator that the spread of the virus is under control.

The seven cases in Guinea and Sierra Leone represented the lowest weekly total for over a year, the WHO said, snapping a two-month run during which weekly case incidence had plateaued at between 20 and 30.

bur-ft-bs/mfp

© 1994-2015 Agence France-Presse

Highlights

· In the week to 19 July 2015, there were four confirmed Ebola cases, down from 14 cases the previous week. The two cases reported in Western Area Urban district came from Patton Street and Lumley areas of Freetown (the only two areas reporting cases out of 48 wards in the district). Two cases reported from Port Loko district came from two (Mamusa and Marampa) out of 11 chiefdoms.

· UNICEF-led social mobilization teams comprising of mobilizers and community champions from key partners (IFRC, Restless Development, Oxfam and Health for All Coalition) reached 23,599 people through community meetings and household visits in 879 communities in Kambia and Port Loko districts.

· As of last week, 1,811 traditional leaders, paramount and section chiefs and 509 traditional healers from Kambia and Port Loko had been enlisted to spearhead community engagement activities in their communities

· An ambulance exhibit led by UNICEF and supported by CDC, Handicap International, GOAL, WHO, ActionAid International and the media was held in Susan’s Bay area of Freetown with the aim of dispelling negative community perceptions on ambulances. Over 900 community members entered the ambulance. There was a question and answer session afterwards.

· During the reporting period, UNICEF-supported partners (Sierra Leone Water Company, OXFAM and Community Action for the Welfare of Children) delivered 113,5m3 of water to 673 people in 136 quarantined households in Kambia and Port Loko districts.

· This week, UNICEF-supported the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology to resume the Emergency Radio Education Programme. Although schools reopened on 14 April 2015, the programme will be aired to provide an opportunity for children in quarantine to continue learning as well as to complement school education and to accelerate learning.

UNICEF Humanitarian Action for Children (HAC) is appealing for USD 178 million for Sierra Leone to support the needs of children and communities affected by the Ebola crisis until the end of July 2015. Currently, UNICEF is revising its HAC appeal in order to establish the needs until the end of 2015. As of 22 July, USD 121.7 million (68.4% of the total funding needs) has been received.

KEY POINTS

• Guinea records fewest EVD weekly cases in more than a year

• Sierra Leone provides details on Tonkolili EVD event

Highlights

• With the onset of the lean season, the consistent improvements in coping seen over the last five months came to a halt in Sierra Leone and normally better-off households resort to increased coping.

• Food prices remained relatively stable while manual labour rates and terms of trade rose in some parts of Sierra Leone.

This book seeks to critically examine the challenges of fragility and security in West Africa, along with the factors of resilience. It seeks to investigate key drivers of conflict and violence, and the way in which they impact the countries of the subregion. Along with emerging threats and challenges, these include the challenge of youth inclusion; migration; regional imbalances; extractives; the fragility of political institutions and managing the competition for power; security; and land. The book explores how the subregion, under the auspices of the regional organization ECOWAS has become a pioneer on the continent in terms of addressing regional challenges. This book also seeks to identify key lessons in the dynamics of resilience against political violence and civil war, drawn from countries such as Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Cote d’Ivoire that can be useful for countries around the world in the midst of similar situations. Finally, it draws on knowledge and findings from a series background papers written by leading experts, and provides insights from the perspectives of academics and development practitioners.

Citation

“Marc, Alexandre; Verjee, Neelam; Mogaka, Stephen. 2015. The Challenge of Stability and Security in West Africa. Washington, DC: World Bank; and Agence Française de Développement. © World Bank. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/22033 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”

• UNHRD facilities in Accra and Las Palmas have served as regional staging areas and the Accra depot hosted UNMEER headquarters.

• UNHRD Accra continues to support the transportation of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in the region. PPE kits were prepared by the team in Accra and are being shipped across West African countries as part of a WHO preparedness initiative, providing protection to 12,500 health workers.

• On behalf of WFP, UNHRD procured and dispatched construction material and equipment for remote logistics hubs, Ebola Treatment Units and Community Care Centres. Most recently, in collaboration with WHO, UNHRD began procuring and dispatching equipment to establish camps for teams tracing EVD. Members of the Rapid Response Team (RRT) are building the camps.

DISCHARGED CASES

• Total Survived and Discharged Cases = 4,043

NEW CASES

• New Confirmed cases = 0 as follows:
  Kailahun = 0, Kenema = 0, Kono = 0 Bombali = 0, Kambia = 0, Koinadugu = 0, Port Loko =0, Tonkolili = 0 Bo = 0, Bonthe = 0, Moyamba = 0 Pujehun = 0 Western Area Urban = 0, Western Area Rural = 0, Missing = 0

Christian and Muslim leaders played “essential role” in tackling the Ebola virus

Faith leaders in Sierra Leone and Liberia played an “essential role” in stemming the spread of the Ebola virus, according to a new report, but the delay in involving them in the response cost lives.

Keeping the Faith, a joint report by CAFOD, Christian Aid, Tearfund and Islamic Relief, shows that Christian and Muslim leaders were able to deliver health messages in parts of the two countries that governments and NGOs could not reach. As trusted sources of information, they quashed rumours about the disease - such as that the disease was man-made and being spread deliberately - and encouraged communities to accept life-saving advice from health workers. They also played a crucial role in counselling survivors and challenging stigma.

But many of those interviewed believe that faith leaders should have been involved far sooner. According to a senior member of the Ebola Task Force in Kenema District in Sierra Leone, the country “would have saved more lives and more money had religious leaders been engaged at an earlier stage of the disease outbreak.”

With 26 new cases of Ebola reported across the region last week alone, the report stresses that governments and humanitarian organisations must continue to engage with faith leaders in the response and recovery. It also argues that the international community should involve faith leaders earlier during future health crises.

Keeping the Faith is published one year since the Sierra Leone government declared a state of emergency, launching a series of measures as the spread of Ebola spiralled out of control. It shows that some preventative measures - such as imposing new burial practices - were initially ineffective, because they went against cultural values and religious practices.

Traditional burials, involving mourners touching or washing the highly infectious body, played a major role in the spread of Ebola. In May 2014, 363 deaths were traced back to attendance at a single funeral in Sierra Leone. But many communities were outraged by authorities removing and cremating bodies or burying them in unmarked mass graves. As a result, “many of those with Ebola chose to remain with their families and burials were undertaken in secret. As a consequence the disease continued to spread,” according to the report.

In Sierra Leone it was not until late 2014 that there was a concerted effort to involve faith leaders in the response. Imams and clergy identified passages in the Quran and the Bible to give a religious context to new burial practices, showing that they were acceptable according to their faiths. From October 2014, families were allowed to attend burials once again, and to invite an imam or minister to pray at a safe distance.

A UN staff member in Sierra Leone said: “When [faith leaders] started participating in the revised burial practices, people knew they could trust it and resistance ended. The participation of faith leaders was a game changer.”

CAFOD Director Chris Bain said: “In Sierra Leone and Liberia, priests and imams have shared the same health messages as the government and health workers, but, because they are often closer to the people, their messages were listened to and accepted. It is vital that we learn lessons from the delay in involving them. In many parts of the world, local churches and mosques are the first places people turn to when disaster strikes - and the international humanitarian system is simply not good enough at working with them.”

Imran Madden, Head of the Humanitarian Department at Islamic Relief Worldwide, said: “Many of those who led the fight against Ebola were faith leaders, Christians and Muslims, who rose to the challenge of their generation. Building on the deep-rooted trust placed in them by the community, they went door to door, village to village to give messages on behaviour change. Their engagement marked the turning point in the fight against this terrible disease and this research explores their role and the many lessons we can learn for future disaster responses.”

Alpha Sankoh, Programme Manager for Christian Aid’s Ebola Emergency Response, said: “Faith leaders have played a critical role in fighting this deadly outbreak. Here in Sierra Leone, faith leaders supported by Christian Aid have promoted safe, dignified burials, counselled the bereaved and those in quarantine, spoken out against stigmatisation of survivors and educated communities on preventing and controlling the spread of the virus. This distinctive contribution is something that demands wider recognition: if faith leaders are sidelined during future humanitarian crises, it is the most vulnerable individuals who could end up paying the price.”

Rev Jonathan Titus-Williams, CEO of Tearfund partner the Evangelical Fellowship of Sierra Leone, said: "During the Ebola crisis, I, along with other faith leaders, was able to provide congregations with critical information about staying safe from Ebola. At first we faced many challenges, but we soon learnt the best way to respond. We now have a role caring for orphans, challenging stigma and seeking to build bridges, bringing communities back together. We are restoring hope."

Keeping the Faith is being published in advance of the World Humanitarian Summit, which will be held in Istanbul in May 2016. The full report is available here.

Highlights

· FAO’s global cereal price index continued to fall in Q2-2015, down 19 percent year-on-year.

· The real price of wheat dropped a further 9 percent over the last quarter. Prices are 33 percent lower than in Q2-2014, thanks to increased global supply and lower consumption.

· The real price of maize has fallen by 3 percent since Q1-2015 and is 21 percent lower than inQ2-2014. However, global production for 2015/16 is set to be lower and thus prices are likely to rise.

· The real price of rice has dropped 10 percent since Q1-2015 and is 8 percent lower than last year. Global rice production for 2015/16 is expected to be higher than last year.

· If the negative El Niño predictions hold true on a wide scale, international food prices as well as domestic prices in the affected countries are expected to rise.

· In Q2-2015, the real price of crude oil rose by 15 percent compared to Q1-2015 but prices are still 43 percent lower than during the same period in 2014.

· The cost of the minimum food basket increased severely (>10%) during Q2-2015 in eight countries: Kenya, Malawi, South Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Uganda, Yemen and Zambia. High increases (5–10%) were seen in Burundi, CAR, Chad, Colombia, Lebanon and Sierra Leone. In the other 55 monitored countries, the change was low or moderate (<5%).

· Price spikes, as monitored by ALPS (Alert for Price Spikes), are evident in Chad, India, Ghana, Malawi, South Sudan, Sudan, Yemen and Zambia. These spikes indicate crisis levels for at least one of the two most important staples in the country, whether they are cassava meal, maize, millet, rice, wheat or sorghum.

The recently concluded International Conference on Africa’s fight against Ebola held in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea focuses on Africa helping Africans in the Ebola Recovery and Reconstruction and attracted AU Foreign Affairs Ministers, Ministers of Health, Heads of States.

The conference attracted AU Foreign Affairs Ministers, Ministers of Health, Health professionals, and representatives from ADB, World Bank, UNOCHA, WHO, UNECA and other development partners and NGOs. The high profiled team from Sierra Leone led by President Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma includes the Minister of Health and Sanitation, Dr. Abu Bakarr Fofanah, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Sarian Kamara, cabinet Ministers and other personalities.

In the conference room at Sipopo, Equatorial Guinea, statements were made by the Heads of State of the three Ebola affected countries Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia. His Excellency Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma, President of the Republic of Sierra Leone, His Excellency Alpha Konde, President of the Republic of Guinea, and His Excellency Joseph Nyumah Bollan, Vice President of the Republic of Liberia. After the presentation of the outcomes statement by the Commissioner for Social Affairs, African Union Commission, Mustapha S. Kaloko, President Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma moved the vote of thanks to the host country for the successful organization of the conference and for the contribution on behalf of the three countries.

Minister of Health and Sanitation, Dr. Abu Bakarr Fofanah participated in the Ministerial Meeting as Chairperson whilst Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Sarian Kamara was appointed Chair for the Experts Meeting.

Presentations on the Recovery and Reconstruction:

Sierra Leone: Dilating on the country’s health system strengthening following the outbreak the country witnessed declining performance of the economy. Lessons learned include community engagement and participation, adoption of simple hygiene procedures, utilization of technologies of information and communication to contact people in health emergencies, necessity to diversify economy to avoid shocks in specific areas, accountability streamlining of expenditure to achieve cost effectiveness in health service delivery, and socio-cultural issues such as deceased body may impede execution of well-established health protocols.

The Ebola epidemic in West Africa, affecting mainly Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia is a first time disaster in the region and the biggest Ebola epidemic in terms of size, and an impact the world has ever faced. Sierra Leone’s Short-Term Achievements: All national hospitals reopened and started delivering services to the public, Treating a total of 16,000 HIV infected persons brought back to the treatment programme, Making treatment available at diagnostic treatment centres, and sustained the Ebola services through building capacity and resilience.

On financing, Sierra Leone presented a budget line for the next six months in line with the funding gap of USD35 million for the next three years, Request for debt cancellation to reduce dependency on external funding as it is not predictable hence the need to domestic resource mobilization. Sierra Leone experiencing 23 percent decrease of GDP due to the closing of mines because of the Ebola outbreak. Against this backdrop, the need to step up involvement of the private sector to bridge the financing gap was also highlighted.

In all three presentations, the following challenges were outlined. Nutrition as the main public health issue, water, hygiene and sanitation as a prerequisite to fight the epidemics, modalities of the implementation of the Recovery and Reconstruction Plan Budget to finance the recovery plans, and building a strong health systems the ultimate goal.

What Ministers of the affected countries identified as priority areas

Following the presentations by the three affected countries, the Ministers identified key priority areas: Strengthening the health systems, Getting to zero-elimination of new Ebola infection, Improved management and decentralization of health service delivery, sustained partnership until zero Ebola infection attained at regional level, Debt cancellation in the three Ebola affected countries, Trans boundary collaboration as a fundamental tool to affectively curb the infection, Sustain increase domestic financing to invest in primary health system, Strengthen prevention and surveillance, Involvement of the private sector, and the development of strong cohort of community health workers.

Recommendations

The Ebola epidemic in West Africa is not only the largest, it is also the most complex as it has affected mainly countries affected by civil war with very weak public health systems and other basic social service delivery systems. The number of cases and deaths from this Ebola epidemic is more than all previous Ebola epidemics combined. Since Ebola discovery in 1976 till December 2013, the world experienced 23 outbreaks, 2388 human cases including 1590 deaths. The 2014 current Ebola epidemic in West Africa, according to WHO June 24, 2015 sitrep states that 27443 human cases including 112017 deaths are yet to be updated.

The Africa helping Africans in the Ebola Recovery and Reconstruction Malabo Conference having assessed the loss of human life and suffering and the socio-economic impact, came out with recommendations based on the needs of the three affected countries to be addressed by the member states of the African Union. The conference recommended human resources for health, provision of medical equipment, training of health workers in various medical field and capacity building, strengthening health infrastructure, strengthening infection and prevention control, establishment of regional hubs to support country hospitals, sustainable provision of medicines and supplies, and bridging short term financial gap.

Other highlights of the conference include meeting of the Ministers of Health as a working group of the Specialized Technical Committee of Health Population and drug control on the creation of the Africa Centre for Disease Control (CDC), Chaired by Dr. Abu Bakarr Fofanah, Sierra Leone’s Minister of Health and Sanitation, and the Experts Meeting chaired by Sierra Leone’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Sarian Kamara.

At the Sipopo Conference Centre Media Briefing Room in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea a high level press conference was held targeting four panelists: Sierra Leone’s Minister of Health, Guinea Health Minister, Liberia Minister of Health and the Commissioner for Social Affairs, African Union Commission. Journalists also participated in the high level press conference.

Next edition I shall be reporting on the MRU Midwifery Response, Building Resilience and supporting recovery through integrated and strengthening midwifery also chaired by Sierra Leone’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Sarian Kamara. This was a side event targeting MRU Secretary General, Dr. Saran Daraba Kaba, Sierra Leone’s Health Minister, Dr. Abu Bakarr Fofanah, the President Liberia Medical and Dental Council, Guinea’s Health Minister, Dr. Colonel Remy Lamah and the African Union Director of Social Affairs, Ambassador Dr. Olawale Maiyegun.

MONROVIA, Liberia 31 July 2015 – UNICEF is supporting a drive by the Liberian Government to register more than 70,000 children whose births were not recorded during the Ebola crisis, leaving them vulnerable to marginalization and exclusion.

Birth registrations in 2014 and 2015 dropped sharply from pre-Ebola levels, according to Ministry of Health data. In 2013, before the onset of the virus, the births of 79,000 children were registered. In 2014, when many health facilities had closed or had reduced services due to the Ebola response, the number of registrations fell to 48,000 – a 39 per cent decrease over the previous year.

Just 700 children are reported to have had their births registered between January and May 2015.

“Children who have not been registered at birth officially don’t exist,” said Sheldon Yett, UNICEF’s Representative in Liberia. “Without citizenship, children in Liberia, who have already experienced terrible suffering because of Ebola, risk marginalization because they may be unable to access basic health and social services, obtain identity documents, and will be in danger of being trafficked or illegally adopted.”

UNICEF is supporting the revamp of the registration systems, and will assist with training, logistics, and outreach efforts prior to a planned nationwide campaign later this year, with the aim of reaching all children not registered in 2014 and 2015.

“Children are the future of Liberia. We cannot jeopardize their future by not having their births registered,” says Hon. Bernice Dahn, Minister of Health in Liberia. “We have scaled up efforts to clear the backlog of birth registrations from before the Ebola outbreak, and are working with UNICEF and other partners to plan an intensive nationwide birth registration campaign in the coming months.”

In neighbouring Sierra Leone, where the Ebola emergency similarly weakened the country’s already fragile health systems, approximately 250,000 children were registered during a recent five-day birth registration and polio vaccination campaign.

“No child should suffer the indignity, or not have protection from a state or other entities, and be unable to access basic services that are every child’s right just because of a lack of a registered identity, says Yett. “We cannot, and should never let that happen.”

Prior to the Ebola outbreak, UNICEF helped increase birth registration rates in Liberia from 4 per cent –then the world’s second lowest rate – to 25 per cent in 2013.

Photos and video can be downloaded from: http://uni.cf/1xZAb39

About UNICEF

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For more information about UNICEF and its work visit www.unicef.org

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For further information please contact:
Rukshan Ratnam, UNICEF Liberia. rratnam@unicef.org, +231 770 267 110
Alvina Lim, UNICEF Liberia, alim@unicef.org. +231 770 267 938
Timothy Irwin, UNICEF Regional Office West and Central Africa, Dakar, Senegal tjirwin@unicef.org +22133 869 58 58 ext. 271
Melanie Sharpe, UNICEF New York msharpe@unicef.org +1 917-251-7670

Above-average temperatures and rainfall lead to flooding in Central Asia

[Extract]

Central Asia Weather Hazards

1. High temperatures during the first half of July have led to mudflows and flooding, damaging infrastructure and displacing populations across eastern Tajikistan.

2. Above-average rainfall has triggered flash floods and river and lake inundation in several provinces of Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan. Locally heavy rainfall is forecast in the region, continuing the risk of floods and other adverse ground impacts in the region.

Temperature: During the last week, above-average temperatures prevailed throughout much of eastern Kazakhstan, with the largest anomalies (5° C or more) observed in the Almaty and East Kazakhstan provinces.
High temperatures during the first half of July have led to mudflows and flooding, which has also resulted in damaged infrastructure and displacing populations across eastern Tajikistan. During the next week, the GFS model indicates that normal to above-normal temperatures will persist across eastern Kazakhstan with below-normal temperatures expected throughout Afghanistan, Tajikistan and southern Pakistan.

Precipitation: Since early July, average to above-average rains in western Kazakhstan has gradually decreased moisture deficits and has led to an improvement in ground conditions in the region. Further south, heavy rainfall associated with the Indian monsoon has triggered numerous floods, affecting thousands of people and damaging infrastructure throughout parts of the Badakhshan province of eastern Afghanistan, as well as several provinces in Pakistan. During the next week, the GFS model suggests a continuation of locally heavy rainfall throughout eastern Tajikistan, eastern Afghanistan, Pakistan, sustaining the risk of floods by the end of July.