The United Nations (UN) has commended President John Dramani Mahama,
for his leadership foresight, courage and inspirational role to host the
UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) in Accra.
“On behalf of Mr Ban Ki-moon, the UN
Secretary General extend the world body’s sincerely appreciation for the
support and decisive leadership exhibited by President Mahama and the
government of Ghana for generously hosting UNMEER at that difficult
time,” Mr Maged Abdelaziz , Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on
Africa, stated on behalf of the UN Secretary General at the New York.
Mr Abdelaziz made the commendation at a
high-level meeting of ECOWAS Ministers in Charge of Gender and Women’s
Affairs at the margins of the 59th Session of the UN Commission on the
Status of Women at the New York.
UNMEER was established on September 19, 2014
after the unanimous adoption of the General Assembly Resolution 69/1,
and the adoption of the Security Council Resolution 2177 (2014) on the
Ebola outbreak.
UNMEER was set up as a temporary measure to
meet immediate needs related to the unprecedented fight against Ebola
and Ghana under the leadership of President Mahama who is also the
current ECOWAS Chairman accepted to host the mission.
Mr Abdelaziz also commended the ECOWAS
President, Mr Kadré Désiré Ouédraogo, and the African Union, for
supporting and joining global efforts to combat the Ebola Virus Disease,
especially in the most affected countries.
The President of the Bureau of Ministers of
Social Development for ECOWAS, Nana Oye Lithur, who chaired the
high-level meeting, recounted that Ebola has caused so much
humanitarian disaster, displaced many people, created a wave of
orphans, and also negatively impacted on the economic fortunes of
affected countries and the sub-region as a whole.
She said Ebola recovery measures should
address the needs of women, and harness their leadership roles as
caregivers, change agents and community leaders.
“It is vital that women are equipped with
requisite knowledge on Ebola so that they are able to support the Ebola
prevention programmes. We request that the planning, programming,
procurement, management, community programmes and recovery processes be
made gender sensitive and participatory.
“Gender disaggregated data should be
collected at all times,” Nana Oye Lithur who is also Ghana’s Minister of
Gender, Children and Social Protection, stated.
The Gender Minister challenged the
international community, governments and other stakeholders, to focus
on women as key agents of change and social mobilizers with a central
role to play in sharing knowledge, raising awareness and enhancing care.
“We as ministers in charge of Women Affairs
in the ECOWAS sub-region, are committed to prioritizing gender and
sustaining progress in fulfilling the gender agenda,” she noted.
The ECOWAS Ministers in charge of Gender and
Women’s Affairs also used the platform to evaluate the negative
socio-economic impact of Ebla haemorrhagic on West African women and
proposes a regional programme to support the reintegration of victims in
affected countries.
The high-level ECOWAS Gender Ministers
meeting also assessed the impact of EVD on West African women; adopted a
common strategy and innovative actions to limit the negative
consequences of EVD on women and facilitate their rapid socio-economic
rehabilitation by monitoring the gender indicators in the post-Ebola
response.
SOURCE: Francis Ameyibor, GNA Special UN Correspondent, New York
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