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UNDP administrator inspects Liberia over Ebola

Xinhua, February 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Administrator Helen Clark on Monday cautioned the Ebola crisis will not be over until there are zero cases while commending Liberian government and people for their efforts to contain the outbreak of the deadly virus.

While addressing a press conference with Liberian Foreign Affairs Minister Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, Clark said the government of Liberia and Liberian communities, together with support from international partners, had remained steadfast in tackling the Ebola crisis.

"We are impressed with the way Liberia is progressing. We are in solidarity with you. There is a need for moving to zero," said Clark, referring the number of Ebola cases.

Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone are the three hardest hit African nations by the Ebola disease. Nearly 9,200 people have died since the first Ebola deaths in rural Guinea in December 2013. Liberia has seen the highest death toll from the Ebola epidemic, with 3,800 people killed. The efforts made by the country so far have resulted in a sharp decline in the number of cases in the country.

On Monday, schools in Liberia, which had been closed more than six months to help prevent transmission, were reopened.

Liberia was emerging from a "very traumatic time," said Clark, there was reason for hope.

The UNDP Administrator, who has been tasked by the UN Secretary- General Ban Ki-Moon to lead the Organization's system-wide Ebola- related recovery plan, named 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 as the four priorities to recovery.

"We are working to invest in the health system of the country for a long-term program. We have a very long plan of building a national recovery plan," she assured.

During her stay in Liberia, Clark visited several of the worst affected counties for an assessment. She also made stops in Guinea and Sierra Leone before traveling to Liberia.