KEY POINTS
SRSG Banbury traveled to Guinea and Liberia on his farewell visit.
UNDP made additional incentive payments to 758 health personnel workers in ETUs in Guinea.
WFP facilitated the receipt and the off-loading of the Dutch vessel MV Karel Doorman in Conakry, Guinea. The vessel carried cargo for several organizations.
Key Political and Economic Developments
The Head of UNMEER, SRSG Anthony Banbury, made his farewell visit to Guinea from 27 to 29 December and Liberia on 29 December. In Guinea, the SRSG travelled to Kourémalé (Siguiri) where he met with the prefect, prefectural coordinator, other local authorities and response partners and visited the border screening point and the Community Care Centre (Centre de Transit Communautaire) in Kourémalé. He also held meetings with President Condé, government authorities, response partners and UNMEER personnel in Conakry. The SRSG credited the Guinean government for its leadership in rallying the Ebola response effort with support from national partners, donors, NGOs, the UN Country Team and UNMEER. He stressed the need for UNMEER to be creative and adaptable and to undertake all its activities with the goal of supporting national and international responders. In Liberia, the SRSG travelled to Sinje in Grand Cape Mount county for the opening of a new Ebola Treatment Unit (ETU), which has been constructed by USAID and will be operated by IOM. The SRSG then traveled to Sanniquellie in Nimba county for a tour of the GW Harley Hospital and met with county health officials, UN agencies, NGOs and Ebola response teams operating in the area.
The Minister of Health of Guinea is continuing his sensitization and oversight mission in EVD affected prefectures. On 27 December, the minister took part in the prefectural coordination meeting in Nzérékoré, attended by the main response partners. The prefectural coordinator gave a briefing on the current situation, highlighting challenges including persistent resistance in communities in Sadou, Banzou North, Baya and Zenemouda; insufficient supply of thermo flash thermometers; lack of equipment and electricity; lack of an office for the prefectural coordination; and weak coordination among response partners. Concerning local resistance, the minister advised that partners must enable community members to take ownership of the sensitization process to engage their respective communities. Concerning the Community Watch Committees (CWCs), response partners briefed the minister that a number have been established but their members have not yet received training and are not operational. The minister stressed that partners involved with the CWCs had to work faster and he warned that alternative measures would be taken in case partners could not deliver on the operationalization of CWCs. He also encouraged response partners to better integrate their activities under the umbrella of the prefectural coordination and to increase their actions in the field where flare-ups and resistance are persistent.
On 29 December, a healthcare worker was diagnosed with EVD after returning to Scotland from Sierra Leone. On 30 December, the patient was transferred to a specialist treatment centre in London. Authorities reported that two more people were being tested for the virus.