Highlights
· Speaking at the Geneva-launch of a new UNICEF report on the Ebola crisis - "Ebola: getting to zero – For Communities, For Children, For the Future", UNICEF Sierra Leone representative, Roeland Monasch, said UNICEF is continuing to work hard alongside the government to get to zero cases. He also warned against complacency.
· Intensified efforts around preparations for Back-to-School continues, with multi-sectorial involvement including Education, Social Mobilization, Supply and Logistics, Health, and WASH in order to prepare for the safe reopening of schools.
· During and following the process of select Community Care Centres (CCC) decommissioning, discussions are being held with the community under the leadership of the District Health Management Team (DHMT) regarding utilization of remaining resources from the decommissioned CCC to strengthen local health systems.
· UNICEF Sierra Leone requires USD 178 million for its response to the Ebola crisis until end of June 2015. To date, USD 126.3 million has been received – 71 percent of the total.
· According to the Government of Sierra Leone, the cumulative number of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) cases is 8,502, with 3,327 deaths as of 17 March 2015.