Highlights
· In the week to 19 July 2015, there were four confirmed Ebola cases, down from 14 cases the previous week. The two cases reported in Western Area Urban district came from Patton Street and Lumley areas of Freetown (the only two areas reporting cases out of 48 wards in the district). Two cases reported from Port Loko district came from two (Mamusa and Marampa) out of 11 chiefdoms.
· UNICEF-led social mobilization teams comprising of mobilizers and community champions from key partners (IFRC, Restless Development, Oxfam and Health for All Coalition) reached 23,599 people through community meetings and household visits in 879 communities in Kambia and Port Loko districts.
· As of last week, 1,811 traditional leaders, paramount and section chiefs and 509 traditional healers from Kambia and Port Loko had been enlisted to spearhead community engagement activities in their communities
· An ambulance exhibit led by UNICEF and supported by CDC, Handicap International, GOAL, WHO, ActionAid International and the media was held in Susan’s Bay area of Freetown with the aim of dispelling negative community perceptions on ambulances. Over 900 community members entered the ambulance. There was a question and answer session afterwards.
· During the reporting period, UNICEF-supported partners (Sierra Leone Water Company, OXFAM and Community Action for the Welfare of Children) delivered 113,5m3 of water to 673 people in 136 quarantined households in Kambia and Port Loko districts.
· This week, UNICEF-supported the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology to resume the Emergency Radio Education Programme. Although schools reopened on 14 April 2015, the programme will be aired to provide an opportunity for children in quarantine to continue learning as well as to complement school education and to accelerate learning.
UNICEF Humanitarian Action for Children (HAC) is appealing for USD 178 million for Sierra Leone to support the needs of children and communities affected by the Ebola crisis until the end of July 2015. Currently, UNICEF is revising its HAC appeal in order to establish the needs until the end of 2015. As of 22 July, USD 121.7 million (68.4% of the total funding needs) has been received.