Accra To Serve As Headquarters For The Newly Established UN Mission For Ebola Emergency Response

Ghana is to serve as the Headquarters for the newly established UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER). The office will be located in Accra with offices in each of the three most affected countries, namely, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. The mission will support national efforts and reinforce government leadership.

Additionally, Ghana's international airport will be used for the vital air bridge.

The establishment of UNMEER follows the unanimous adoption of General Assembly resolution 69/1.

In his remark to the UN General Assembly last Thursday, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon noted that UNMEER will provide a platform for wide-ranging international efforts and will have five priorities: stop the outbreak, provide treatment, provide essential services, preserve stability and prevent outbreaks in non-affected countries.

The mission is expected to also emphasize community outreach, training and education especially among local leaders, including traditional and religious leaders.

Consequently, the UN Secretary General, in a statement on the subject, has issued instructions that UNMEER advance teams be deployed to the mission headquarters in Ghana and to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone by Monday, 22 September 2014.

It will be recalled that early this month the Under Secretary General Hervé Ladsous paid a brief visit to the UN Humanitarian Response Depot to access the depot in relation to the establishment of Accra as a logistics hub on ebola.