both are integral to a comprehensive strategy to fight the disease. following my appointment, i deployed to the region with a small but now growing team to start up the next. i am grateful to the government of ghana for hosting ummer's headquarters in akra which has fas ittated at a time growth. i have visited the three most affidavit countries, liberia, sierra leone and guinea for three days each. i went on the trip to listen to learn and to identify areas where unmeer can be most helpful and find ways it can accelerate the response to the crisis. i met with the president of leipbiera and president of sierra leone and of guinea t i also met with government ministers and officials, with civil society, actors -- civil

society actors, women's groups, ngos, the country ce teams and diplomatic community. i had the opportunity to visit two ebola treatment centers, one holding center for patients as well as the who training center. my first impressions have were vivid and deeply worrying. we saw how brief, tired and immensely dedicated national and international health workers are carrying on, under he knew tremely difficult circumstances. over 230 of these health workers have died in plybiera alone. we saw people and resources stretch stretched to the limit with more being done with less they can be considered acceptable. we saw families leaving for lost ones but also fearing for their own health. we saw a patient being turned away for lack of beds as the facility. we saw a woman lying dead in a street inattended. the human response is to care,

to empathize, to pay respect to the departed. with ebola, this type of response can be fatal. to defeat the virus, we will have to change behavior. excellence ceases, the consequences of this disease are catastrophic. in order to fight it, unmeer shall be guided by the following principles: first, our top priority is to keep our staff healthy, without which no effort shall be possim. second, we must support national efforts and national leadership. third the work of unmeer must not replace or duplicate national plans. and fourth, the response of this mission must be tailor made to each country and unique services. our efforts will be on bringing

this crisis to an end as soon as possible. and as soon as our task is met, we will close our doors. we must concentrate on prevention in other countries, prevent transmission will be a critical component of unmeer's mix. we must stop the spread to other countries and ensure companies are prepared top rapidly detect, control and eliminate the virus if it is introduced. for all of these efforts, we shall collaborate closely with the union, west african states and i had the opportunity to meet with the commissioner for social affairs and the head of the au support to ebola outbreak operation two days ago. i commend the african union's xloichlt of health workers. i hope others will follow their

lead mr. president, excellencies, allow me to present some of the find kdz and conclusion's at the mission f e phase of the deployment. the outbreak is severe and unpress definited the world has never seen nick like it. time is our enemy. the virus is far ahead of us and everybody day, every day, the situation gets worse. almost 3,900 people in seven countries have died. the ebola epidemic is not just a health crisis. it is a complex, multi-dimensional crisis in two main ways. first, it is having a broad impact on the societies we are the there at the outbreak. it kills people, harms economies, disrupts education

systems, food security and livelihoods. the three most affected countries have recently shown some of the highest growth rates, economic growth rates, not just in africa but in the entire world. now, the growth rates may be halved off more in the course of a year. second, the response necessary to end the crisis requires intense efforts across multiple sectors, not just health, such as logistics and perhaps even more importantly, social mobilization as dr. nabarro was talking about. there are intricate complexities sounding the issues such as burial practices. many in the affected countries deny ebola is real. in such scenarios, science can help but it is insufficient. we must understand and respect

different cultural values, social practices and mores and find solutions that, on the one hand, protect people from infection while on the other will be accepted by the affected communities and families and individuals. in my short time in the region, it is clear that one of the greatest needs is comprehensive crisis management. much good work has been done since march by national governments, united nations agencies, ngos but it has been a patchwork of good work. the crisis needs ton managed like complex, multi-dimensional regional crisis it is, not just as a health crisis. excellencies, the challenge is immense. unmeer's work began only two am weeks ago. it is late but not too late to fight and win this battle.

unmeer has deployed to four countries. we have deployed, staffs, planes, communications capabilities, moving resources to where they are needed most with strong sfrort u.n. agencies. it this is what unmeel will do: we shall support national leadership and national ownership. we shall play the roll of crisis manager and not just coordinator. heads of missions in the three affected countries are ebola crisis managers. we shall work with host governments to ensure that there is a comprehensive plan in place to stop ebola. each necessary line of action to implement these plans will be identified and each right of action will be assigned to an organization with clear guidelines and clear accountabilities. we shall fill gaps, support that which needle support but not be the only player in fighting this fight. everyone must play their part.

we shall work with a wide range of partners. anyone who can make a contribution to ending the crisis. it requires unprecedented, creative, rapid response to bring it to a close. our prior to shall be to ac1e8 rate action, to achieve results fast, we must have your and the world's support. in particular, first, the highest priorities are ebola treatment centers with skilled managers and medical personell. second, we need diagnostic laboratories. and aid agentees need finance be support. it just can't be that aid agencies willing to contribute to this effort are unable to do so for lack of financial resources and we need reliable arrangements in place to and if necessary, evacuate aid

personnel working on the crisis i would like to adhere that the crisis faced by the country should not be compounded by isolation. countries and airlines should maintain open links with the affected countries and the region so that we isolate the virus and not the country. let me take this opportunity to thank the general assembly for the rapid approval of inmeer on 31 december, 2014. as i noted earlier, when this crisis is over, unmeer will close but the united nation agency's funds and programs and other partners will have much work to do in supporting the countries affected recover from the crisis, to help them build structures and resilience so they never again are victims to such a disaster. now as we focus on the emergency, we need to be incorporating early recovery and long-term needs into our

efforts. mr. president, excellencies, the ebola crisis is an emergency of profound consequence and great risk. there is no other way to describe it. like special envoy nabarro mentioned n my career, not as long as his but nonetheless a long one facing many crises, i have never seen such a terrible, difficult crisis. the world must now act to help the people and governments of liberia, sierra leone and again e and by helping them, to help the rest of the world. a failure to act now while we have the chance to lead to unpredictable but very dire consequences. for the people of the countries and will beyond. as long as there is one case of ebola in any one of these countries, no country is safe from the dangers posed by the

deadly virus. unmeer is on the ground and we are committed to doing our job. we are doing it now. unmeer cannot do this alone. neither can any single country or act. we need a broad, global coalition as the secretary general, deputy secretary general and dr. nabarro have called for. the whole world must contribute and each country should contribute what it can. it is only by work together and fast and inventively that we can end this crisis. we must rise to the occasion. we must defeat this disease. ug thank you the special representative of the head of the united nation mention of ebola emergency response, i thank him for his briefing. before proceeding further, i would like to welcome and inform

members that his excellency for social welfare of liberia and his excellency, abkurkaface, minister in sierra loan is joining us today by a video conference. i now give the floor to his excellency, walter minigadi, minister of health and social welfare of liberia. >> thank you. mr. president of the general assembly and the deputy secretary general. thank you people. on behalf of organizing this sector assembly to address

ebola. i have listened very carefully to the statements by dr. nabarro and dr. anthony and i have here visiting with me the persons who have been appointed by the united nations to help us fight this in the country in the person of peter ware. i also have with me my incident management for the ebola incident. let me go back again to say i have listened very careful to david nabarro and to anthony and what they have said has clearly described the situation in our country and the need that we have. so, i do not need to go over these things again.

did i do want to say, however, that ebola has it will been in linebiera and we are trying to bear it. it is the bump in the road of our healthcare delivery program. when it is over, we don't want to have a big ditch at the end of it or behind it. the inclination has been to say that we are coming together with ebola. i want to remind you people, all of us, that ebola is in the health system that should be less stronger when ebola is over. therefore, when i see people say we are going to go ahead rid of ebola and then close the door, i am saying to myself, no. ebola is over.

the international community is just beginning to help us to build the health system that has been damaged so badly by ebola. our country has been devastated i, the economic system. many of our people that were helping us to get funding to do different things in our countries have left. companies have slowed down and some are left the country. so when you finish, we will just be beginning to rebuild. so i want to thank all of you: the united nations and all of the organizations that are helping us now. the un ite states of america with bringing in more than 389,000 solids to build and to help us, the african union, the west african health

organization, all of you. there are many, many people, including the international gnos or nsf. s. all of these are celebrating the fight that we have been trying to do ourselves. we are very appreciatetative of this. but i want to say thank you, but i want to say to you, you are not eradicating ebola. you are helping a health system that has been weak to get rid of ebola. when ebola is finished, the health system must remain stronger. to leach behind a strong health system. who is committed to something like this. i was not in the city when tony came to liberia. i am seeing him for the first time. i appreciate what they are doing.

bur please please, please, please leave behind a long health system. don't get rid of ebola and run. thank you. >> for social welfare of liberia, i now give the floor to his excellency, abakar of sierra leone. . >> thank you very much, mr. president. your excellency, presidents of the u.n. general assembly, excellencies, let me talk to the president of the 69 account u.n. general assembly, thank you for convening this session, on the west african ebola outbreak. since the disease in may of this year, well over 2,50 people have

been affected in our country alone. over 500 have lost their lives. most affidavit are women and children. over two-thirds belong to the most economically active age of 15 to 50. while we have made progress in the fight against this scourge, significant challenges remain. one, we see these challenges because of a weak turning lance system. two, we see challenges in moving cases from the communities to management, due to logistics constraints like lack of ambulances.

three, wir not nat position due to shortage of bespace. four, our compromised laboratories are too few in numbers. wir not able to catch up with the workload. specimens for this in the laboratory. as a result, our holding centers are becoming breeding grounds for propagating the epidemic. and families for the result of. five, we have still not caught up with the barriers. one of the most significant sources of infection. six, there are still pockets of denial among our people: nooifth, the containment of the disease threat sdwairl on our ability to promptly remove from

the community all of those who are affected, addressing, ex leans sees are paramount for achieving this fight. it is clear that all of the ingredients for the full-blown epidemic is still in our midst. scan unless we are natural position to address the changes, we are far from being out of the woods. this is why this information is particularly welcome i want youngs more on behalf of his excellency, the president, his government and people of sierra leone to section tend sincere thanks and gratitude to the president of the 69th u.n. general assembly for this initiative. ebola is not a disease we brought upon ourselves.

galley it be implementing programs. the evidence is there for all to see. we have one of the fastest growing economies in the world when ebola struck. excellencies, distinguished guests and ladies and gentlemen, the situation is complex, challenging and still fluid. it's continued support is not only to our nation but also to our social and economic development. we need your head. we needed it yesterday. so please, don't let today pass by. now is the time of fast tracking the translation of commitment into action on the ground. this is a risk, a risk to get ahead of this virus and relegated to history. for us, this is a risk that we either win.

winning is the only alternative we have. i am hopeful, with your support, we shall win this fight. with our ing meer resources, we are, we have to ensure the survival of tens of thousands more. this can only happen with the support of you. i thank you very much. >> i thank the minister of sierra leone. i now give the floor to the distinguished representative of guinea.

mr. president, mr. deputy secretary general champ d de cabini, ladies and gentlemen, my for the inc.itiave you have taken to organize this meeting which comes from the will of the international community. to spare no efforts in order to find an urgent response to combatting the ebola virus.

mr. president, i would like to thank your excellencies, the ministers of health liberia and sierra leone. as well as mr. anthony bambury, for the firsthand information that they have just provided. through very he had figedifying on the scope and the complexity of the multi-dimensional crisis. the health crisis, and the socioeconomic crisis being faced by the affected countries where the illness is found. of course, the gravity of the situation has been described by

panelists leaves no doubt about the vital needs for the international community to undertake urgent action in order to reverse the current trend. as you said, mr. president, it will the time has come for specific actions. we need to act quickly, not only to suppress the spread of the disease and not only to save human lives while there is still time, but, also, and especially in order to maintain stability and the gains of the last few years as part of peace building

and social peace it is essential for unmeer, the u.n. mission, to be deployed as quickly as possible so that it can respond effectively to the most pressing needs of the affected countries. in our opinion, this mission should also help build local health capacities as mr. bambury said, through making available mobile hospitals, helicopters, protective vehicles and qualified medical workers in order to take care of sick

people. therefore, let us hope that this mission will have a heavy dose of communication, that it will work to teach local populations more about best practices to be adopted but, also, to vanquish the hesitation that was referenced he will "ly a few moments ago by mr. bambury in his briefing. so in this respect, we believe that the next could use local radio to communicate the public service message in the national languages of the countries affected in order to reach those people who are still hesitating

to believe the extent of the disease. so may i then launch a pressing appeal on behalf of the government of guinea to all member states or to reiterate our appeal to all member states that are able to do so to assist our efforts through support of human resources, logistical and financial support as well. i should also now call upon member states to honor as quickly as possible the commitments made and the promises of contributions that have been made and n conclusion, mr. president, i would just like to express our deep appreciation to my delegation and our

government for the bilateral and multilateral partners as well as for the healthcare workers. while all of those who invest themselves on a daily basis to suppress this disease and they do so at risk to their own lives and with total dedication. thank you. >> coming up next, "washington journ journal" life with your phone calls and a cat talk. the wilson center looks at the politics behind the keystone xl oil pipeline. later tonight, live coverage of the iowa senate debate. in about 25 minutes, roll call politics editor share a centers on this year's campaign. same sex marriage and evan wilson, president of freedom to

marry and center cindy fornelli on the i mplementation of the dodd-frank law. our campaign 2014 coverage includes the iowa senate debate. by the way, on monday, the debate over kentucky's senate seat currently held by mitch mcconnell and his challenger alison grimes will be. go to our website, campaign 2014 website for more information. speaking of this political season and the upcoming 4 pfeiffer minutes, we are interested in hearing from you about the qualities and qualifications that you look for when picking a political candidate. maybe it's a decision about