NEWS NOTE

EMBARGO: 10 a.m. GMT / 11 a.m. CET/5:00 a.m. EST Friday, 6

February 2015
More than 16,000 children lost parents or caregivers to Ebola many are taken in by the communities: UNICEF
DAKAR, Senegal/GENEVA/NEW YORK, 6 February 2015 Some 16,600 children are
registered as having lost one or both parents, or their primary caregivers to Ebola in Guinea,
Liberia and Sierra Leone, but less than 3 per cent have had to be placed outside family or
community care, UNICEF said today.
Since overcoming their initial fears and misconceptions about Ebola, families have been showing
incredible support, providing care and protection for children whose parents have died, said
Manuel Fontaine, UNICEFs Regional Director for West and Central Africa. This shows the strength
of kinship ties and the extraordinary resilience of communities at a time of great hardship.
As of mid-January, nearly 3,600 children had lost both parents to Ebola in the three countries,
while 16,600 were registered as having lost one or both parents or their primary caregiver other
than their biological parents.
UNICEF has been helping identify children without parents or caregivers and providing immediate
care and protection, either through extended family members, community members or foster
families. In Guinea, for example, all 773 children who lost both parents have been placed with
their extended families.
Children and the families looking after them are given cash and material assistance, help in
accessing school, and counseling to support their emotional and psychological well-being. Following
up children who are in new families is an important focus, as the children may be emotionally
vulnerable as they grieve the loss of loved ones.
Unaccompanied children who may have come into physical contact with a person suffering from
Ebola are provided with centre-based care while they are under observation for 21 days, the
maximum incubation period of the Ebola virus. Across the three countries, the total number of
such children to date has been just over 250, with over 90 per cent of them being taken into the
care of extended family members shortly after the quarantine period.
UNICEF has also developed a network of Ebola survivors who have been playing an important role
in supporting affected children. Because they have built up a level of resistance to the disease,
survivors can interact with children who are under observation, providing them with the physical
interaction contacts would not normally receive.
Identifying vulnerable children and providing services to them has been one of the many
challenges faced in responding to the Ebola crisis in a region where social welfare and child
protection were already weak before the outbreak.
As the Ebola-affected countries head towards recovery, we should take the opportunity to improve
child protection services for all vulnerable children, said Fontaine. We have a chance to address
other forms of vulnerability that existed before the Ebola crisis, such as child marriage, child
labour, sexual violence and exploitation.

Total

Key figures as of mid-January 2015

Guinea

Liberia

Sierra
Leone

1,825

1,717

5,692

9,234

773

535

2,276

3,584

Lost primary caregiver

(distinct from parents)

1,515

2,267

N/K

3,782

Total # of children who lost

one or both parents or
primary caregiver

4,113

4,519

7,968

16,600

# of children confirmed
infected

452

856

1,652

2,960

Case fatality rate for

children infected with EVD

59%

57%

58%

58%

16,044

4,519

9,103

29,666

1,087

718

420

N/K

42,530

6,936

657

649

334

Indicator
Lost one parent
Lost both parents

# of children who benefited

from psychosocial services
(PSS)
# of Community Volunteer,
social workers, frontline
workers, MHPSS specialists
trained in PSS
# of families who received
relief items
# children supported with
cash transfer/grants

Total

2,225

49,466

1,640

Source: UNICEF data from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra

Leone.

About UNICEF
UNICEF promotes the rights and wellbeing of every child, in everything we do. Together with our
partners, we work in 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical
action, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the
benefit of all children, everywhere. For more information about UNICEF and its work visit:
www.unicef.org
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For further information, please contact:
Christophe Boulierac, UNICEF Geneva, Tel: +41 799 639 244, cboulierac@unicef.org
Laurent Duvillier, UNICEF West and Central Africa in Dakar, + 221 77 740 35 77,
lduvillier@unicef.org
Najwa Mekki, UNICEF New York; +1 212 326 7448 (office); +1 917 209 1804 (mobile),
nmekki@unicef.org