HIGHLIGHTS
Schools reopened nationwide on 31 August 2015 with the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, supported by UNICEF, verifying availability of hygiene safety supplies in schools, and, where necessary, replenished. UNICEF took advantage of the summer recess to train 10,000 teachers in psychosocial support so that the teachers have the skills to address the psychosocial needs of children impacted by Ebola.
The week to 30 August 2015 saw the reporting of the first new Ebola case in Sierra Leone since 7 August 2015, with a positive swab test made following the death of a woman in Sella Kafta (Tonko Limba chiefdom, Kambia district). The twinned villages are both now under quarantine with 223 households (970 people).
Following the new case of EVD, UNICEF supported the rapid mobilisation of operations in the district, including through UNICEF social mobilization partners Restless Development, the Health For All Coalition and the Sierra Leone Red Cross. Through implementing partners, UNICEF supported deployment of 1,772 social mobilizers in Port Loko and Kambia districts. An additional 21 social mobilizers were trained in a half-day orientation by a joint-team from the District Health Management Team, UNICEF, WHO, and Restless Development.
UNICEF child protection teams also conducted assessments in the quarantined villages and reached 365 children and 362 adults with psychosocial support, and also provided 50 kits of household items, 100 recreation kits, and 100 mattresses for children in quarantine houses
UNICEF, working through the Sierra Leone Water Company (SALWACO) and implementing NGO CAWEC, started the construction of 29 out of the planned 53 latrines for the quarantined villages in Kambia. Preparations are being made to distribute hygiene kits to the affected communities and households. UNICEF also provided around 30,000 litres of water to six check points in Kambia district through SALWACO.
In Western Area (in and around Freetown), the last people currently in quarantine were discharged from the Voluntary Quarantine Facility (VQF) on 29 August 2015. All 14 quarantined children received recreational materials from the UNICEF-supported protection desk.