Recovering From the Ebola Crisis

Four thematic working groups were established for the assessment to ensure full coverage of Ebola-related issues: i) health, nutrition and WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene); ii) governance, peacebuilding and social cohesion; iii) infrastructure and basic services; and iv) socio-economic revitalization. In addition to thematic area analysis, country reports provide additional information on the three Ebola-affected countries. This integrated report is based on the submissions of these working groups and the country reports submitted to the three governments as contributions to their national recovery planning processes. The report reflects views expressed by partners who met during the mission, including government officials from a range of ministries, United Nations agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), development partners, development banks and civil society. It provides an assessment of the considerable progress made by the Ebola affected countries towards containing the epidemic in the year since the outbreak. It describes where the countries are in their stabilization and recovery planning efforts and explores the drivers of the fragility that enabled a local epidemic to escalate into a regional humanitarian, social, economic and security crisis with considerable international ramifications. It identifies additional requirements for the countries to ‘get to zero’ Ebola cases and establish conditions to minimize the risk of its resurgence. It also considers the gaps and challenges of rebuilding the foundations for national development, taking into account the imperatives for ‘building back better’ and enabling resilient institutions and decentralized services. This entails consideration of the broader risk landscape, including health, governance and conflict risks within the three countries, the Mano River subregion and the West Africa region as a whole.