International donors pledged $3.4 billion in new funds Friday to help Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone in their final push to stamp out Ebola and get on the road to recovery. The latest promises would bring the total amount of funds to help the three countries rebuild after the killer epidemic to $5.18 billion, said Helen Clark, head of the United Nations Development Programme. "We consider this a very encouraging response," Clark told reporters at the end of the pledging conference held at the United Nations. "This puts the recovery off to a very positive start."
The leaders of the countries had appealed for $3.2 billion to finance their national recovery plans, along with an additional $4 billion for a regional initiative. The funds will help rebuild health care systems, reopen schools, support agriculture and get government services fully up and running.
The world's worst outbreak of Ebola has killed more than 11,200 people in West Africa, brought fragile health care systems to their knees, rolled back economic gains and sent investors fleeing. Liberia, the hardest-hit country, suffered a setback when a few new cases were uncovered last month just after it had been declared Ebola-free. New infections in Sierra Leone and Guinea have fallen dramatically amid indications that the epidemic is largely under control.
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