The World Health Organization (WHO) officially declared Nigeria free of Ebola virus transmission after 42 days without a single case.
In progress at UNHQ
Noon Briefings
Today is the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty and in his message, the Secretary-General calls on the world to recommit to act together against extreme poverty. He notes that despite reaching the Millennium Development Goal target of halving the number of people living in poverty, some 2.4 billion people still live on less than $2 a day.
The Secretary-General has called for the international community to step up its efforts on Ebola and turn pledges into action, as the World Health Organization warns of a continuously deteriorating situation in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
The Head of the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response, Anthony Banbury, stressed the need to accelerate the response, saying the deadly virus got a head start and is winning the race. Only 4,300 of the 7,000 treatment beds needed will be available by 1 December and only 50 of the 500 safe‑burial teams required are now on the ground. This morning a German aircraft arrived in Accra to be loaded with humanitarian supplies and equipment for delivery to Sierra Leone and Guinea later in the week.
The Head of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) today announced the death from Ebola of a United Nations Volunteer who worked in the UNMIL Medical team.  The Head of the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) said this sad loss underscores the importance of an urgent and immediate response by the international community.
The Secretary-General travelled to the Middle East today and met with the Prime Ministers of Palestine and Israel, Israel’s opposition leader and Quartet representative Tony Blair. He was encouraged by the amount committed by donors at the Cairo conference on Gaza’s reconstruction and the Israeli Prime Minister’s support for a temporary mechanism for rebuilding.
The Secretary-General congratulated Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi, two of the world’s greatest champions for children, on being awarded the 2014 Nobel Prize for Peace. He said the true winners today are the world’s children.
In Washington, D.C., today the Secretary-General participated in several meetings, including key sessions on the fight against Ebola, and said that the building blocks for a global response to counter the virus was in place, but that at least a 20-fold surge in assistance was needed and that it was time for the international community to step up.
The Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, briefing the Security Council on Mali today via videolink, expressed concern at the rate of attacks in the last months against the United Nations Mission there. The recent number of victims in the Mission was one of the highest seen in peacekeeping operations.
The Secretary-General will go to Washington, D.C., tomorrow for meetings with the World Bank and its President on countering Ebola, improving sanitation in Haiti and supporting financing for development. Afterwards he will travel to Tunis to express support for Tunisia’s transition process, and then to Cairo for a donor conference on Gaza reconstruction.