This report documents the secondary humanitarian problems and impacts of largescale Ebola outbreak on the different humanitarian sectors, to provide a non-exhaustive plan to help future responders. A large scale Ebola outbreak, in this document, refers to an epidemic with an unprecedented scale, geographical spread and duration. 

A suspected outbreak of Lassa viral hemorrhagic fever was announced in Nigeria on 8 January. The Lassa virus is carried by the multimammate rat and can be transmitted to humans through physical contact with soiled objects; eating contaminated food; or person to person transmission. 

After the Ebola outbreak was declared in Sierra Leone, in June 2014, early messages about the high mortality rate of Ebola were met with fear and denial by many communities. This is the second of two reports that ACAPS is producing with the aim of identifying lessons learned and good practice in community-led communication processes. This report focuses on Sierra Leone and the first covers Liberia.

After the Ebola outbreak was declared in Liberia in March 2014, early portrayal of Ebola as an incurable killer disease was met with intense mistrust, resistance and fear by many communities and early responders. As the outbreak spread, it was important to find appropriate ways to inform people how they could minimise the risk of catching the disease and what to do if it affected them and their families.

This report outlines the countries considered to be in greatest humanitarian need as we approach the end of 2015. Based on our weekly monitoring, and three years of data on humanitarian needs across 150 countries, we have identified eleven countries where humanitarian needs are likely to be highest in 2016, as well as seven that merit attention, as they face a potential spike in needs. A final section considers the potential impact of the current El Niño event across a number of regions.

On 20 November, a new Ebola virus disease case was confirmed in Monrovia, capital of Liberia. At least 153 contacts have been identified and are being monitored. Food and water were delivered on 21 November to high risk contacts. 

As the response moves towards recovery and long-term development planning, the perceptions of the younger generation on the crisis highlight their priorities for the future. Like the focus group discussion, the report covers three main themes: the main impacts of Ebola on student life (negative and positive), current concerns, and recommendations for recovery and development plans.

Reintegrating those most affected by Ebola back into their communities is central to a country’s post-Ebola recovery.  The reintegration process helps those affected to cope with the impact of the outbreak and to regain a sense of normality. It is also an essential part of increasing community preparedness and building resilience to possible future emergencies such as a new epidemic or a natural disaster. 

In October 2015, ACAPS undertook a scoping study to better understand gaps in information and analysis in the context of the asylum-seeker crisis in Europe. One of the key priorities that emerged from the consultation was the need for scenario building, outlining possible developments and anticipated impact on the transit countries over the next six to nine months. Three workshops in Athens, Belgrade and Geneva, were held to develop and validate these scenarios.

Since the Ebola epidemic started it has killed at least 11,295 people, out of at least 28,295 reported confirmed, probable, and suspected cases. It began in Guinea in December 2013 and rapidly spread to neighbouring Sierra Leone and Liberia.

This report gathers lessons identified from assessments of the humanitarian situation in West Africa during the later stages of the Ebola crisis, between November 2014 and April 2015. It is based on conversations with individuals from different organisations who conducted assessments, as well as on ACAPS experiences of assessments conducted in Sierra Leone and Liberia during the Ebola Needs Analysis Project.

The Syria Needs Analysis Project (SNAP) started in December 2012, as a collaborative project between ACAPS and MapAction, aimed at bring together available information on humanitarian needs in the Syria crisis. At the time, information-sharing and publications on the humanitarian situation were extremely limited; in this context, SNAP’s initial goal was to help create a shared situational awareness among humanitarian actors.

This document summarises the baseline data on WASH available for each country. It then provides an overview and analysis of the known and probable impacts of the Ebola outbreak on the WASH sector at both the community and facility level. Relevant aggravating factors not linked to Ebola are described, and WASH-related areas that present a possible risk to the people of Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea are highlighted.

This paper reviews all of the assessments on Liberia and Sierra Leone made available to the Ebola Needs Analysis Project (ENAP), between December 2014 and 20 March 2015. Several assessments have been conducted at a regional level. This report focuses only on those conducted on a national level or lower, to allow for disaggregation of results. 

Au 19 avril, 3 151 cas confirmés d'Ebola avaient été signalés en Guinée, et 2 358 personnes avaient succombé à la maladie. Une certaine réticence visà-vis la réponse humanitaire contre Ebola a été constatée. Des incidents violents ont éclaté dans certaines régions, ce qui a entravé l'acheminement de l'aide et l'accès du personnel humanitaire aux communautés. 

As of 19 April, the Ebola outbreak has infected 3,151 people in Guinea, 2,358 have died. The epidemic has been characterised by incidents of resistance to the response. In several areas these incidents have been violent and this has impacted humanitarian access to certain communities. At times humanitarian actors have had to temporarily suspend their activities because of insecurity. 

The number of new Ebola infections in Sierra Leone is declining, despite the outbreak continuing to claim lives. New cases have dropped to around 9-12 per week, according to recent WHO figures. There were over 500 cases per week at the height of the crisis around late November 2014.

At the beginning of April 2015, ACAPS conducted a phone based, multi-sectoral assessment of KIs in all 15 counties of Liberia. The objective of the assessment was to identify the main problems faced by communities, and how their needs differ from the pre-Ebola situation. The assessment intends to inform the ongoing discussions on early recovery and strategic decision making on sustainable development. 

The Multi-­Sector Needs Assessment provides an overview of needs in Eastern Ukraine, based on reports from households and key informants. It is an initiative of the Ukraine NGO Forum to seek greater understanding of needs across the affected area.

Overall, visits to primary health facilities decreased by a third in June–December 2014 compared to the same period in 2013. Most districts show an initial drop at the onset of the Ebola outbreak in June, and a further decline as the epidemic reached its peak in November–December.