Logistics Support of the Humanitarian Community’s Response to the Ebola Virus Disease Outbreak in West Africa

This operation has expired in February 2015

On 23 March 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that the Guinean Ministry of Health had notified WHO of a rapidly evolving outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in forested areas in south eastern Guinea. The spread of the disease has now affected Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia, as well as Nigeria, and now Senegal. The numbers of newly confirmed and suspected cases are increasing, indirectly affecting over one million people as regular supply routes and services get disrupted

2. On 28th August, WHO issued a Roadmap to scale up the international response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, with the aim to stop Ebola transmission

worldwide within the next 6 to 9 months. 

3. This Special Operation is established to support the international response to the Ebola Virus Disease outbreak in West Africa. The international community has 

begun its scaled-up relief response, requiring movement of substantial amounts of necessary life-saving relief items, rapid and timely sharing of a high volume of 

information sharing, as well as information and communication technology (ICT) support. Upon the request of WHO, WFP is scaling its logistics operations to support health actors involved in the Ebola response and to mitigate the risk of a larger humanitarian crisis. 

4. To ensure that supplies reach the most vulnerable people affected by the outbreak in a rapid and effective manner, logistical and ICT reinforcement, coordination, 

and support are necessary. 

5. Recent meetings with World Health Organization officials, MSF, IFRC, and other partners at the global, regional, and country levels have already highlighted needs 

for logistics support from a broad range of humanitarian actors - including but not limited to local and international humanitarian organizations, as well as provincial and national authorities. WFP is therefore requested to provide an immediate and coordinated logistics support for the overall Ebola response operation.