Africa

Members of the Bring Back Our Girls group campaigning for the release of the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram Islamists march to meet with the Nigerian president in Abuja, on July 8, 2015. Members of the BringBackOurGirls campaign group marched on July 8 to meet President Mohammadu Buhari to pressure him to end the deadly Boko Haram insurgency and free 219 schoolgirls held by the group since April 2014.  PHILIP OJISUA VIA GETTY IMAGES

UNICEF has been able to reach 67,000 students by setting up temporary learning spaces and renovating and expanding schools.

huffingtonpost.com - by Eleanor Goldberg - December 22, 2015

As Boko Haram continues to wage targeted attacks against civilians in northeastern Nigeria and its neighboring countries, more than 1 million children have been forced out of school -- a consequence that leaves them more susceptible to violence, poverty and child marriage. 

Dr. David Nabarro, Special Envoy on Ebola, at a press conference in New York in November 2015. UN Photo/Loey Felipe

un.org

10 December 2015 – In August 2014, amid a rapidly growing outbreak of Ebola, Dr. David Nabarro was tasked with providing strategic guidance for an enhanced international response, and galvanizing essential support for affected communities and countries. As the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Ebola, Dr. Nabarro played a key role in responding to the outbreak, which mainly affected Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, and claimed more than 11,300 lives to date.

While the Ebola outbreak in West Africa has declined significantly in recent months, it is not completely over, making it all the more vital for everyone involved in the response to remain vigilant and focused on stopping the outbreak, staying at zero cases and preventing re-emergence. The Office of the Special Envoy will end its mandate on 31 December 2015, but the UN system will continue to remain fully engaged with the affected countries. 

reliefweb.int - globalcommunities.org - December 1, 2015

The public view of the Ebola response was dominated by images and stories of medical workers and Ebola treatment units. But there is also the less-known story of the many thousands of Liberian health workers, government staff, traditional leaders and volunteers who played the most significant role in building resilience to Ebola and reducing transmission and infection. It is these groups, working in the frontlines and at significant risk, which Global Communities partnered with throughout the Ebola response.

Global Communities’ approach to countering the Ebola outbreak has been highlighted by President Obama, Dr. Rajiv Shah, former Administrator of USAID, and many others as having been a key component in the successful fight against Ebola in Liberia in the 2014-15 outbreak. This new publication “Stopping Ebola in its Tracks,” has two strands:

It describes Global Communities’ community-driven response to the Ebola outbreak in Liberia

It derives from this experience lessons learned and recommendations for preventing and dealing with future disasters