Liberia’s President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has
written a heartfelt letter to the world over the
Ebola crisis that hit her country. 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.The president called on the
international community to stop all theoretical
explanations on the Ebola crisis and act fast to
stop the spread of the deadly virus.
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
