The tsunami did not define Japan, Katrina did not define New Orleans, and Ebola will not define Liberia,” exclaimed His Excellency Joseph N. Boakai, Senior, Vice President of Liberia, during a recent town hall meeting with the Liberian diaspora and friends of Liberia in Washington, DC. The Liberian government is matching this determination with important new steps this week to combat the growing Ebola crisis in the country. These steps include: instituting a 30-day shut down for non-essential government personnel, closing some borders, and declaring a 90-day State of Emergency to allow the government to initiate even stronger measures to contain the virus.
Equally important as the government’s interventions are the efforts of Liberia’s civil society organizations and media institutions. Due to lack of education and historical distrust of government, many citizens do not believe the Ebola virus is real, will not permit health workers into infected homes, and prefer to take local medicine for self-treatment. This is aggravated by media coverage that disseminates rumors and highlights the sensational. Better information delivered by trusted institutions in partnership with the government is crucial in stemming the growing crisis.
The IREX Civil Society and Media Leadership Program in Liberia (CSML) is working alongside our media and civil society partners to get out responsible and accurate information and promote a better understanding of proper prevention measures.
IREX is working with its partners to collaborate with the Ministry of Information and Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to develop targeted Ebola-awareness messages for distribution via national and community radio stations throughout the country. Journalists from CSML’s partner outlets are being mentored to ensure that their Ebola coverage is factual, professional, and does not feed unrest within a frightened population. The civil society partners are coordinating to ensure that quarantined patients receive meals, and that communities in the far reaches of Liberia receive information about the virus and are prepared to educate their families on prevention strategies.
As the crisis evolves, so will the activities of our partners. The network of capable and professional civil society organizations and media outlets that the CSML program has built over the last four years is working together for timely information sharing and coordinated, complementary activities.
Liberia and Liberians have demonstrated extraordinary resilience in the face of historical social and economic inequalities and a brutal 14-year civil war. Now, with the continued spread of the Ebola virus, they are facing the more dire health crisis in their history. It will take the continued resilience demonstrated by their Vice President along with the combined effort of government, civil society, media, the private sector, and the international community to combat this crisis. CSML and its more than 90 civil society and media partners are there to fulfil their role.
Dara Lipton and Lyn Gray
