UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- Economies of the three most affected countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone have experienced significant setbacks, and need urgent global attention beyond the treatment of the last Ebola case, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said here Friday.
The secretary-general made the statement at a special meeting of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) on the threat of Ebola on sustainable development, held at UN Headquarters in New York.
Ban said the once thriving economies were all slowing down. According to the World Bank, all three economies had been vibrant and growing rapidly in recent years, and into the first half of this year.
Projected 2014 growth in Liberia is now 2.2 percent against the backdrop of 5.9 percent before the crisis and 2.5 percent in October. Projected 2014 growth in Sierra Leone is now 4 percent, versus 11.3 percent before the crisis and 8 percent in October. Projected 2014 growth in Guinea is now 0.5 percent, against 4.5 percent before the crisis and 2.4 percent in October.
The UN chief said while Ebola virus has killed more than 6,000 people, many more have died as fragile health systems have collapsed.
The hard-won peace dividends have seriously been eroded. The deadly virus has also disrupted education, agriculture, industry and commerce. Families have lost income. More than 3,300 children have been orphaned.
He said the social and economic impact has been broad and deep. It will long outlast the outbreak itself.
"Incomes are down, prices have risen, markets are bare and people are hungry," Ban said. "That is why it is imperative that we begin to focus on recovery at the same time as we work to end the Ebola outbreak."
"The people and governments of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone have suffered much and shown great resilience," he said. "They are counting on the international community to help end the Ebola outbreak and support their swift and full recovery."
ECOSOC president Martin Sajdik, who chaired the special meeting, said the UN council stands ready to help mobilize all its partners including a network of non-governmental organizations, to ensure that economic recovery efforts help stabilize the worst affected countries, and strengthen their preparedness to prevent future outbreaks.
Also speaking at the special meeting, the secretary-general's special envoy on Ebola, David Nabarro, who returned from the affected West African countries on Thursday, said even while the fight to eliminate Ebola continues, the world should pay attention to helping the affected societies build back what they have lost.
"Long term recovery will need significant resources and the sustained commitment of the international community and the UN system. The Ebola outbreak has weakened the ability of governments to collect revenue," said Nabarro. "At the same time, expenditures have risen by about 30 percent in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone because of Ebola."
He said responding to job losses, lost government revenue, low productivity and low growth will require enhanced and coordinated international support starting now.
Meanwhile, the director-general of the World Health Organization, Margaret Chan, told delegates at the ECOSOC special meeting that prior to the epidemic outbreak, the three countries had only one to two doctors to serve a population of nearly 100,000.
That number, she said, is now even smaller as nearly 600 doctors, nurses, and other health care workers have been infected and more than half of them have died.
"This is the largest, longest, most severe and most complex Ebola epidemic in the nearly four-decade history of this disease," Chan said. "What began as a health crisis has become a humanitarian crisis, a social crisis, an economic crisis and a security crisis. Travel and trade bans have been imposed. Markets are not functioning. Fields are fallow. Fear of hunger competes with fear of infection."
ECOSOC will reconvene in next six months with a road-map for coordinating a multi-sectoral response to health and other emergencies.
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