Top UN development official starts visit to Ebola-hit countries

A top UN development official started her visit to Ebola-affected West Africa, showing UN's commitment to addressing the crisis and support for the recovery process, a UN spokesperson said Wednesday.

Helen Clark, administrator of the UN Development Program (UNDP), began her one-week visit to West Africa which will include stops in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the three hardest-hit West African countries that have seen almost 23,000 reported Ebola cases with almost 9,000 reported deaths, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said at a daily news briefing here.

In response to the governments' expressed need to begin laying the foundations for recovery alongside the ongoing response to the disease, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has tasked the UNDP with leading the UN system on Ebola-related recovery.

The UNDP is working with the national authorities; and local, regional and international partners, including the African Development Bank, the European Union and the World Bank, on an Ebola Recovery Assessment, and in support of national recovery strategies.

"As part of the overall response, recovery programs are focused on four pillars: economic opportunities and jobs; recovery of the health system; resilient governance for recovery, peace and stability; and risk management to deal with any future outbreaks," Dujarric said.

The World Health Organization (WHO), in its latest update released Wednesday, reported that the number of new cases of Ebola in West Africa rose for the second straight week. The WHO also noted that the fatality rate among hospitalized cases remains high- - between 53 percent and 60 percent. Endite