HIGHLIGHTS
For the fifth consecutive week, the number of confirmed Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) cases continued to decline in Sierra Leone with nine cases recorded in the week to 5 April 2015, the lowest numbers since May 2014.
Reopening of all schools across the country is scheduled for 14 April 2015, with some 1.8 million students expected to start attending school. Intensified efforts around preparations for back to school continues with multisectoral involvement including Education, Social Mobilization, Supply and Logistics, Health and WASH in order to prepare for the safe reopening of schools. Teachers have been trained, and hygiene and school preparation kits are being distributed to all schools with the support of UNICEF.
On 26 March 2015, construction was formally launched on a new USD 1.1 million pediatric and maternal hospital in Kailahun. The 100-bed facility will be one of the largest of its kind in the country, and has been made possible through funding from UNICEF National Committees in Germany and Italy.
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.