This year´s heroes

In her Christmas address of today, Queen Elizabeth II said some very good words about all those who are engaged in the fight against Ebola in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea. They are for sure the heroes of the year. They might not have a well-known name, their pictures might not be printed in every paper, and they might even not be paid on time or not paid at all, in some cases. But their example is very visible. It knocks on our conscience every day to remind us that in the end what matters is to be of service to others, to be committed and also be just one of many nice people. 

Ebola: Bring the resources to West Africa

I wrote my bi-weekly column to the Portuguese magazine Visão this morning. Everybody is writing about Ebola these days. I also did. It is the second time in recent weeks that I focus on this matter. I just felt it was necessary once more to emphasize that the fight against the epidemic ought to be fought in West Africa. Rich countries and permanent members of the UN Security Council have the duty of assistance. They should make all types of resources available. The disease has crushed the response capacities of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. These countries are in need of immediate help. And it is the duty of the developed world to assist. International solidarity is a key pillar of the new international order. We should insist on that. And also on the fact that we are saving lives. For now, it is the lives of West Africans. That´s a strong reason. But later on, if we are late to act, it could be our own lives, in our part of the world. And that´s also a strong reason for us to move without any further delay. 

President Obama´s Ebola call is vital

The decision taken by President Obama regarding the deployment of about 3,000 military personnel to Liberia to help the country to fight Ebola is a game changer. It has placed the epidemic in its true context as a grave menace to the political stability of the country and the neighbouring states, as well as a major human security threat. It is the survival of the entire region that is at stake, its peace and unity.

Ebola, as I have said in these pages in the recent past and also in my Portuguese language columns, is much more than a public health challenge. It has, of course, health dimensions that none can ignore. It is destroying very fragile national health systems, as it is already the case in Liberia. But it is above all a national and regional security threat for West Africa.

The countries concerned need all the help they can get.

Unfortunately, very few countries outside the region are taking the issue with the attention it requires. Maybe that will change a bit now that the US President has given Ebola the prominence it requires.

Cuba sends 165 health personnel to Sierra Leone

Cuba has decided to deploy 165 medical and health services personnel to Sierra Leone to help in the fight against the Ebola pandemics. They will serve for a six-month period.

This is great news. It should be reported on the big media. It is important to show that West Africa is facing a major crisis and that the countries of the region need a much stronger response from the international community. 

The Western public opinion is not getting the point on Ebola

New research information shows that Ebola could spread across a number of regions of West and Central Africa. It is also already destabilising Liberia and Sierra Leone and could easily bring havoc to other neighbouring countries beyond Guinea. It would be a serious mistake to underestimate the human, social, economic and political costs of the pandemic. And we continue to see some opinion makers in our part of the world missing the point. 

Ebola is turning life in Sierra Leone into hell

I was just in contact with Sierra Leone. The stories I am told about the impact of Ebola on the country and the daily lives of the people are just horrendous. Everything is upside down, villages and small towns are just quarantined, and there is fear all over. Just imagine a country where to be sick with fever is quite common, because of malaria and other diseases related to the heat, the humidity, the mediocre quality of the water and poor sanitation. Now, every bout of fever is a reason for panic: is it Ebola?

The outside world is responding as usual. No surprise. We just ignore it. We think the solution is to close the borders and look elsewhere. 

Fighting Ebola requires more public information

The international community is now paying attention to the Ebola epidemics in West Africa. And that´s good news. It would be a dramatic mistake to underestimate the risks of a very rapid spreading of Ebola to other countries in Africa and elsewhere.

WHO, the UN World Health Organization, is in the lead. That´s how it should be. Its Director-general, Dr Margaret Chan has been to the region to participate in a summit with the Presidents of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, the countries most concerned. This was a high profile initiative. As it is the decision to allocate 100 million USD to fight the disease.

Local populations are still very confused about the epidemics. There is a serious need to invest more on health education and on public information. That´s also part of the combat. 

Ebola

The West African states of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia continue to be confronted with Ebola, a major public health challenge. Death rates are above 90% of those infected. And the national health infrastructure in these countries is too poor to be able to respond in a big manner. Furthermore the areas that are particularly affected are very remote, in a beautiful but extremely isolated countryside. The local populations are deeply superstitious. They do not understand the Ebola virus issue and believe this is brought in by the medical teams that are there to help. All this makes the epidemic a major issue. Europe, among others, needs to take a much more proactive view of the problem. And to provide greater help.   

EU and the Ebola fever

On the same day leaders of the EU and Africa were meeting in Brussels, the people of Guinea, in West Africa, continued to dread the Ebola fever that has now killed close to a hundred people and is still out of control. The government in Conakry has not enough capacity to stop this epidemic. The health services, with the help of some international NGOs, are just overwhelmed. And the risks of contagion across the border into Sierra Leone and Liberia are very real.

But there has been no voice in the leading circles of Europe to raise the issue and call for an urgent, large scale and highly specialised assistance to be sent to Guinea and the neighbours, to help them to effectively respond to a disease that kills close to 95 people on every 100 that can infected. 

Critical peace issues

I had a long discussion today about the current impact of the UN missions on peace and security. It all started with a silent crisis, Guinea-Bissau. Nobody talks about that country and the lasting disaster that has been around for so long. That is a DPA-led mission, meaning, the UN department of Political Affairs has the responsibility to guide the UN presence on the ground and report to the Security Council on a regular basis. Then, we looked at Cote d´Ivoire, where we have had a peacekeeping operation for quite some time. There is very little progress, I would say in a very diplomatic language, as far as domestic reconciliation is concerned. Next to it there is a UN peacekeeping presence in Liberia. The country has been struggling to rebuild itself, after many years of civil war and wanton destruction. There are now some serious issues of governance. Are we addressing them?

And we moved on, to the Central African Republic, South Sudan and Mali, not to mention the work of the UN missions in Libya and elsewhere. And the same question came out a number of times? Are we addressing the key issues?

The point is very simple. In all these situations, conflicts can come back, sooner or later, if we are not able to deal with the critical causes of instability. And in some cases, it is even worse. We are simply not able to help the countries to move out of the swamp. 

Central African Republic: the forgotten crisis

When it comes to political decisions, the Central African Republic remains outside the main radar screens, notwithstanding all the dramatic news about the civil unrest in the country. France is on it alone, playing a complex role that has more to do with gendarmerie and police tasks than with military assignments. But what is on the ground is a military expeditionary force. That is feeling more and more frustrated by the type of challenges they have to face in Bangui, and also because they are so stuck in the capital city that they can´t respond to the problems elsewhere in the country.

This French force should be rapidly complemented by a comprehensive peacekeeping operation, under the overall leadership of the UN. That is not going to happen any time soon. The African Union is very reluctant when it comes to accepting a UN force. They are still convinced, I want to believe, that they will be able to deploy an AU mission and take care of the security situation. It is unrealistic as an approach. The African Union is no measure to put together the required integrated force. They should be confronted with such truth. And they should also cease to play along the interests of the Chadian President, Idriss Déby, who seems to be the key African opponent to a UN presence.

The US is also against a UN mission in CAR. They base their position on the fact that such mission would carry additional financial costs to Washington. And they do not want to put more money, at this stage, on UN peacekeeping operations. OK, I can understand the costs issue. That could be sorted out by drawing down the missions in Haiti, Cote d´Ivoire and Liberia at a much faster pace. These are missions that have long ago achieved their key goals and should only be continued with a much smaller field presence.

By the way, the approval of additional forces in South Sudan, which has a very high budget tag, was accepted by Washington in a matter of hours…

That´s why I say that CAR is the forgotten crisis. It has always been like that. 

Central African Republic

There is increased noise about the possibility of a UN peacekeeping operation in the Central African Republic (CAR). The friends of that country and of Africa should amplify the noise to make sure the key world leaders understand that such a mission is required. It should actually be on the ground soonest.

However, I am afraid the noise will not be strong enough. My sources tell me there is little chance to be able to find the troops and deploy soon enough. The UN is still struggling with its deployment in Mali. To add CAR to the list would be like adding complication to complexity.

But it has to be done.

And at the same time, it calls for decisions on the rapid phasing out of peacekeeping missions where they are no longer critical. That brings to mind Cote d´Ivoire and Liberia, for instance.

Il also reminds us that the UN Security Council has to be better at defining and monitoring exit strategies. Peacekeeping missions need to be goal oriented and time sensitive.