President
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia has written a profound letter to the entire world
over the Ebola crisis that hit her country and has killed about 2000 people. In
the letter which was read over the radio and transmitted worldwide, she likened
the Ebola epidermic to the civil war her country faced 11 years ago which
killed a lot of Liberians, crumbled their economy and vital institutions.
She called
on the international community to stop all theoretical analysis on the Ebola
crisis and act fast to stop the spread of the deadly virus. Read letter after
cut.
Dear World
In just over
six months, Ebola has managed to bring my country to a standstill. We have lost
over 2,000 Liberians. Some are children struck down in the prime of their
youth. Some were fathers, mothers, brothers or best friends. Many were brave
health workers that risked their lives to save others, or simply offer victims
comfort in their final moments.
There is no
coincidence Ebola has taken hold in three fragile states – Liberia, Sierra
Leone and Guinea - all battling to overcome the effects of interconnected wars.
In Liberia, our civil war ended only eleven years ago. It destroyed our public
infrastructure, crushed our economy and led to an exodus of educated
professionals. A country that had some 3,000 qualified doctors at the start of
the war was dependent by its end on barely three dozen. In the last few years,
Liberia was bouncing back. We realized there was a long way to go, but the
future was looking bright.
Now Ebola
threatens to erase that hard work. Our economy was set to be larger and
stronger this year, offering more jobs to Liberians and raising living
standards. Ebola is not just a health crisis – across West Africa, a generation
of young people risk being lost to an economic catastrophe as harvests are
missed, markets are shut and borders are closed.
The virus
has been able to spread so rapidly because of the insufficient strength of the
emergency, medical and military services that remain under-resourced and
without the preparedness to confront such a challenge. This would have been the
case whether the confrontation was with Ebola, another infectious disease, or a
natural disaster.
But one
thing is clear. This is a fight in which the whole world has a stake. This
disease respects no borders. The damage it is causing in West Africa, whether
in public health, the economy or within communities – is already reverberating
throughout the region and across the world.
The
international reaction to this crisis was initially inconsistent and lacking in
clear direction or urgency. Now finally, the world has woken up. The community
of nations has realized they cannot simply pull up the drawbridge and wish this
situation away.
This fight
requires a commitment from every nation that has the capacity to help – whether
that is with emergency funds, medical supplies or clinical expertise.
I have every
faith in our resilience as Liberians, and our capacity as global citizens, to
face down this disease, beat it and rebuild. History has shown that when a
people are at their darkest hour, humanity has an enviable ability to act with
bravery, compassion and selflessness for the benefit of those most in need.
From
governments to international organisations, financial institutions to NGOs,
politicians to ordinary people on the street in any corner of the world, we all
have a stake in the battle against Ebola. It is the duty of all of us, as
global citizens, to send a message that we will not leave millions of West
Africans to fend for themselves against an enemy that they do not know, and
against whom they have little defence.
The time for
talking or theorizing is over. Only concerted action will save my country, and
our neighbours, from experiencing another national tragedy. The words of Henrik
Ibsen have never been truer: “A thousand words leave not the same deep
impression as does a single deed.
Yours
sincerely,
Ellen
Johnson Sirleaf
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