Events

Health experts define Africa’s health direction

ASEOWA EVALUATION WORKSHOP
MAHE, SEYCHELLES
26-28 OCTOBER 2015

DRAFT CONCEPT NOTE

 
Background

The first cases of Ebola in West Africa are believed to have occurred in December 2013, in Guinea yet with scare surveillance and laboratory capacities, it was not until three months later, on 21 March 2014, that a confirmed case was actually reported and the World Health Organization (WHO) was officially notified of the rapidly evolving EVD outbreak on 23 March 2014. By this time it had spread to neighboring countries of Sierra Leone and Liberia from Guinea. The outbreak of Ebola virus disease in parts of West Africa is the largest, longest, most severe, and most complex in the nearly four-decade history of this disease. On 8 August 2014, the WHO declared the epidemic to be a “public health emergency of international concern’’ (PHEIC).
In response to the growing humanitarian need and in the spirit of African Solidarity, the Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the African Union, at its 450th meeting held in Addis Ababa, on August 19, 2014 invoked Article 6 (f) of its mandate with regard to humanitarian action and disaster management and decided that “given the emergency situation caused by the Ebola outbreak, to authorize the immediate deployment of an AU-led Military and Civilian Humanitarian Mission, comprising medical doctors, nurses and other medical and paramedical personnel, as well as military personnel, as required for the effectiveness and protection of the Mission”.
The PSC mandate of ASEOWA, which was for an initial period of six months, ending 18 February 2015, has been extended twice to 31 December 2015, notwithstanding that the epidemic is contained and under control, though not completely eradicated in the three most affected countries. The PSC at its 520th meeting at which it decided to extend the mandate of ASEOWA till 31 December 2015, on the understanding that this extension of mandate does not necessarily compel ASEOWA to maintain physical presence in the three most affected countries.
At the peak of the epidemic, ASEOWA deployed to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, 855 African health workers and hundreds of local volunteers with objective of the ongoing efforts of the national and international community to stop the Ebola transmission in the affected Member States, prevent international spread and rebuild the health systems.
Accordingly, ASEOWA supported epidemiological surveillance and response, Ebola case management, psychosocial support, community engagement, capacity building and health service restoration in the three most affected countries. ASEOWA volunteers were actively involved and performed creditably in containing the epidemic. Liberia has been declared Ebola free and the transmission rate in Sierra Leone and Guinea is almost at zero and the two countries are on the verge of being declared Ebola-free. Surveillance and response capacities have vastly improved and there is a very good picture of current chains of transmission, and know how to break them. There has been enough technical capacity building within the affected countries to enable them easily detect and respond timely to all disease threat including Ebola.
Given the vast improvements in the overall situation and the approach to zero new infections, the Commission in line with ASEOWA’s CONOPs and Exit Strategy, commenced the gradual reduction in the number of volunteers in the theatre of operation from March 2015. By 30 September 2015, all the volunteers have returned leaving only the three Country’s Team leaders to wind up before the end of ASEOWA mandate on 31 December 2015.
The African Union has experience in peacemaking and peacekeeping operations but it is the first time in responding to health emergency of this nature. Overall, the ASEOWA mission has been rated as a huge success but there were challenges. What were the challenges? What were the success stories? With the exit of the ASEOWA mission, it is time take stock of the AU response to Ebola and to properly document all that transpired and the lessons learned with a view to better responding to future public health emergency of international concern and indeed, all humanitarian crisis.
Learning from ASEOWA’s creditable response to the EVD outbreak and the imperative of adequate preparations for future disasters, as well as the coming on board of the Africa CDC, the Assembly and the PSC requested the Commission to review the AU Humanitarian Policy Framework with a view to developing a comprehensive disaster management protocol and filling all existing gaps in the coordination of the Commission’s responses to disasters and emergencies consistent with Article 15 of the Protocol Relating to the Establishment of the Peace and Security Council and other relevant instruments for submission to the 26th Ordinary Session of the Assembly in January 2016.
It is in this context that the African Union Commission is planning to organize a three-day (3) ASEOWA Evaluation Workshop.

General and Specific Objectives:

The general objective of the post ASEOWA workshop is to evaluate the planning and execution of the mission in order to better respond to future public health emergency of international concern and indeed, all emergencies and humanitarian crisis.
Specific Objectives

1. To review the processes of ASEOWA humanitarian response mission.
2. To assess success, constraints and/or challenges encountered and solutions provided,
3. To draw lessons learned and experiences gained
4. To validate a concept note of building Africa public health volunteers roster for epidemics and emergency disease management
5. To contribute to the review of AU Humanitarian Policy Framework to capture an expanded disaster management and recommendations to improve humanitarian missions in the future.

Expected Outcome of the Meeting
• A final ASEOWA mission report
• An ASEOWA mission review report
• Validated Concept Note for Public Health Volunteers Roster

Participants

About 70 participants are expected at the Evaluation Workshop including officials of the Commission, ASEOWA Head of Mission, Deputy Heads of mission/Country Team leads; and independent Experts; as well as Partner Countries and Organizations that supported ASEOWA.

Date, Venue of Meeting and Organizational Matters

The Workshop will take place from 26-28 October 2015 in Mahe Seychelles, at the Kempinski Seychelles Resort. The AUC and ASEOWA will be responsible for the invitations and the preparations of all related documents. Translation and interpretation services in English and French, and secretarial support, will be availed by the AUC.

Documentation

• ASEOWA CONOPs
• ASEOWA M&E reports
• Field reports (Epi surveillance, IPC, Restoration, Psychosocial and humanitarian, communication and logistic reports)
• Operational interim report
• Draft Concept Note of building Africa Public Health Volunteers Roster
• Any other related documents

Contact Persons

Additional information about the ASEOWA Evaluation Workshop can be obtained from:

Dr. Benjamin Djoudalbaye
Senior Health Officer &
Head of ASEOWA Mission Support
Email: BenjaminD@africa-union.org

The Commission has negotiated a package with the Coral Strand Hotel comprising of full board. For confirmation of participation and information about hotel accommodation and related logistical arrangements, please contact:

Ms. Zula Afawork
Administrative Assistant
ASEOWA Secretariat
Email: ZulaA@africa-union.org

Malabo, 20 July 2015- Ahead of the AU summit where leaders are expected to pledge more support to the Ebola response and recovery efforts, health and foreign affairs ministers, discussed the immediate needs of the affected countries. Countries shared experiences and lessons learnt in health systems strengthening and financing in the context of the Ebola fight.

“This meeting is an important opportunity to share experiences in the fight against Ebola and to provide concrete assistance to our brothers and sisters on their irreversible path to recovery and reconstruction” said Hon. Dr. Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Zimbabwe and Chairperson of the Executive Council of the African Union.

The African Union Support to the Ebola Outbreak in West Africa (ASEOWA) mounted an effective response that deployed 850 volunteer health workers from AU Member States. This was a game changer that helped stem the tide of the epidemic.

Key lessons from Africa helping Africa in the Ebola response

African Union’s political clout

ASEOWA anchored on African Union's political leverage, continental reach and networks in the region and beyond. Technical expertise came from many Member States, regional groupings, development partners and affected countries.

Quick humanitarian emergency response

The decision to deploy was taken by the African Union Peace and Security Council within 24 hours of the African Union Permanent Representatives Council being briefed. An assessment team was on the ground within 10 days of the decision to form ASEOWA. Within less than a month, ASEOWA teams were on the ground at the peak of the crisis. Once the surge was decided in November 2014, it took less than one month to have 850 health workers in the three worst affected countries.

Effective coordination at various levels

To streamline operations ASEOWA coordinated the operation at both continental and affected countries level. It leveraged on expertise of various countries and partners and harmonised coordination between medical, logistics and other emergency response capabilities.

Private sector collaboration

The African private sector provided the single largest financial contribution to the AU's Ebola response. It also made available its assets and resource mobilisation expertise.

International solidarity

With the African Union taking a leadership position the international community provided significant financial and technical support including response infrastructure.

Competent leadership

The mission leadership was a mix of expertise in combating previous Ebola responses, leading complex operations across Africa and humanitarian emergencies.

Diverse range of specialist cadres

The ASEOWA volunteers included doctors, nurses, epidemiologists, lab scientists and technicians, public health officers, social workers, psycho-social experts, community mobilisers, public and communication for development experts and survivors.

Hot zone training

ASEOWA teams trained thousands of Health Care Workers in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone in hot zone management and community mobilisation. Its specialists supported and assisted foreign medical teams from Cuba and China.

Field positioning

Epidemiologists recruited from the African Field Epidemiology Network were deployed along the borders. ASEOWA medics managed emergency treatment units in the three countries.

Cost effectiveness and building local capacities

ASEOWA deployed 850 health workers from several African countries, and recruited more than 4,000 local volunteers, including survivors, to work all over the affected region at a cost that was only a fraction of what other aid interventions cost.

Applying local solutions to local problems

ASEOWA teams worked with survivors, with local communities and national structures to provide solutions that worked.

Responding to local priorities

ASEOWA was flexible enough to deploy its teams to where they were needed the most, and to support the people's priorities.

Pan African solidarity

In the spirit of Africa helping Africans, various countries seconded their health workers to assist in the response.

Looking into the future

The African Union and partners are strengthening their capacities to respond to emergencies and disasters. The ASEOWA response provides a working model for emergency response in Africa. The way Africa came together to respond to the Ebola crisis strengthens its common positioning on other development planning and priorities.

For further information contact

Mr. Molalet Tsedeke | Information and Communication Directorate | African Union Commission | Phone +251911630631| E-mail: molalett@africa-union.org | Web www.au.int | Addis Ababa | Ethiopia

Mr. Tawanda Chisango | Social Affairs | African Union Commission | Mobile +251934167052 | E-mail: Chisangot@africa-union.org | Web www.au.int I Addis Ababa | Ethiopia

For further information contact

Directorate of Information and Communication | African Union Commission I E-mail: DIC@african-union.org I Web Site: www.au.int I Addis Ababa | Ethiopia

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