Algemeiner: UN Identifies Israel as Top Contributor Per Capita in Fight Against Ebola
Israel pledged an additional $8.75 million USD on Wednesday to the UN’s Ebola Response Multi-Partner Trust Fund (MPTF) towards fighting the deadly disease, the country’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Dr. David Nabarro, Special UN Envoy for Ebola said at a signing ceremony for the pledge that “This donation has put Israel as the 6th largest state to contribute to fighting Ebola, and first per capita.”
“Global cooperation is more than a moral obligation to provide assistance to people in need – it is an investment in the long-term prosperity of all people,” Israeli Ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor said at the ceremony. “This idea is central to the Jewish value of tikkun olam, the obligation of every person to make the world a better place,” Prosor said.
Part of the donation will be allocated directly to WHO and UNICEF, towards the operation of medical clinics in the affected countries. Israel’s Agency for International Aid and Development, MASHAV, has already sent fully equipped medical clinics to Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea and teams of Israeli specialists to Cameroon and Ivory Coast to operate clinics and train local health workers.
“The global community has the tools and skills to bring relief to the communities that have been devastated by the Ebola virus,” Prosor said. “Working together, I am confident that we can combat this disease and bring health and security to the nations of West Africa.” In Nov., Israel sent three field hospitals to West African states hit by the disease. The shipments, which were sent to Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea, included six cargo containers full of special equipment used to set up portable field hospitals. “Each clinic consists of 20 beds and it’s a fully equipped clinic with beds, and with carts and treatment carts and oxygen and certain medications and protection gear,” Gil Heskel, the head of MASHAV, told Reuters. Currently, the Israeli humanitarian group IsraAID is the only organization from the Jewish state operating in West Africa, where it provides training to healthcare workers to address the psycho-social impact of Ebola.
Mashav inaugurated the Israel Forum to Combat Ebola
The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs through MASHAV – Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation, inaugurated last october the Israel Forum to Combat Ebola.
The Forum, held in the presence of Deputy Foreign Minister Tzachi Hanegbi and Head of MASHAV Ambassador Gil Haskel, is a joint initiative of MASHAV; SID-Israel, the Israeli branch of the Society for International Development; and of the Israeli Fund for UNICEF (IFU). The forum calls upon Israeli civil aid organizations, the business sector and the academia, in cooperation with the Government of Israel, to join in the global effort to assist in combating the outbreak of the Ebola epidemic.
The Ebola outbreak, the largest and longest in history, has had a devastating impact. The countries affected so far in Western Africa are Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal and Sierra Leone. Eight neighboring countries are also at risk as the virus could quickly spread across borders unless there are rapid improvements to control it. Because of the seriousness of the situation, the United Nations, together with international organizations, governments and societies around the world are providing emergency aid to prevent the spread of the epidemic.
MASHAV, which has already begun to provide assistance in the region at the request of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is now preparing to intensify its efforts. The Israeli government aid includes the deployment of mobile field hospitals to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, with emphasis on isolation units and protection gear to allow medical professionals to quarantine and care for their patients.
source Algemeiner and MFA
