Dr. David Nabarro, Special UN Envoy for Ebola said at a signing ceremony for the pledge that “This donation has put Israel as the 6th largest state to contribute to fighting Ebola, and first per capita.”
“Global cooperation is more than a moral obligation to provide assistance to people in need – it is an investment in the long-term prosperity of all people,” Israeli Ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor said at the ceremony.
“This idea is central to the Jewish value of tikkun olam, the obligation of every person to make the world a better place,” Prosor said.
Part of the donation will be allocated directly to WHO and UNICEF, towards the operation of medical clinics in the affected countries.
Israel’s Agency for International Aid and Development, MASHAV, has already sent fully equipped medical clinics to Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea and teams of Israeli specialists to Cameroon and Ivory Coast to operate clinics and train local health workers.
“The global community has the tools and skills to bring relief to the communities that have been devastated by the Ebola virus,” Prosor said. “Working together, I am confident that we can combat this disease and bring health and security to the nations of West Africa.”
In Nov., Israel sent three field hospitals to West African states hit by the disease.