EU delivers aid to Ebola-hit countries
January 5, 2015
17 motor vehicles - including ambulances - and five containers packed with medical supplies were unloaded from the Royal Dutch Navy vessel Karel Doorman when it docked at Monrovia, Liberia.
The New Year delivery to Liberia was the second by the newly commissioned 200 meter long, state-of-the-art, logistic support ship and was welcomed by aid officials.
"It shows a big response from Europe in its concern to fight Ebola in Liberia", said Thomas Debandt, spokesman for the World Food Program (WFP) told DW in Monrovia.
EU Civil Protection Mechanism
The aid shipped in by the Karel Doorman came from nine European Union member states, including Belgium, France, Germany, United Kingdom, Netherlands, as well as from international organizations such as WFP and the UN's culture and education agency, UNESCO.
The aid effort was facilitated by the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, a grouping of 31 countries who coordinate their aid response to disasters so that assistance reaches victims swiftly.
The Karel Dorman has also delivered EU aid to the two other countries hit hard by the Ebola epidemic, Guinea and Sierra Leone.
The EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, Christos Stylianides, speaking as the Dutch naval vessel docked for a second time in Monrovia, said "equipment and personnel" were crucial if the Ebola outbreak in West Africa was to be defeated.
Stylianides lauded the use of the Karel Doorman - which has ferried mobile hospitals, protective equipment as well as vehicles from Europe to West Africa - as "particularly impressive."
Government full of praise for the EU
When the Karel Doorman first docked at the port of Monrovia in November last year, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf praised the crucial role of partners in the fight against Ebola.
"We want to say a big thank you, especially to the government and people of the Netherlands and all the members of the European Union who heard the country's appeal and have supported Liberia in the fight against Ebola."
The Ebola outbreak has killed more than 3,400 people in Liberia, but the rate of new infections has slowed in recent weeks. Johnson-Sirleaf announced on Tuesday that schools would reopen in February.