Multinational - Crisis response: Technical Assistance to African Union to support countries most affected with ebola

The Technical Assistance Project to African Union to support countries most affected with ebola is designed as a response to the crisis to strengthen institutions and capacities, through Pillar III of the Transition Support Facility (TAF). It is an innovative crisis-response project aimed at reducing institutional fragility in the region, which has fueled and is exacerbated by the Ebola epidemic. It draws on the Ebola Sector Budget Support Project, which covers all MRU Member States, and the Ebola Project (US $ 60 million). The project is grounded in the AU's call to mobilize health professionals and is a rapid response to fragility in the three affected countries (Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia), and particularly the lack of capacity of human resources and systems to respond to the Ebola epidemic. The innovation results from the use of the AU Medical Staff Platform which involves the recruitment of additional health human resources from the subregion and continent, in the spirit of Africa ", support in the response to the crisis, and the adoption of incentives for local human resource capacity, including targeted training. The project also relies on sub-regional institutions such as ECOWAS and the MRU to strengthen coordination among governments to stop the spread of the virus, create a platform for active private sector involvement in the fight against the epidemic, and increase public awareness and prevention measures everywhere in Africa, particularly in the affected region. The project will support i) the deployment of 85 external health professionals including physicians, nurses, pharmacists, clinical officers, social workers, public health workers, and laboratory technicians, (ii) approximately 1839 local health workers will be covered under the incentive scheme and vocational training, (iii) about 450 health extension agents will be trained, and (iv) the recruitment of appropriate local health workers in the three countries.