Assembly/AU/Decl.4.(XXIV) Page 1 SPECIAL DECLARATION ACKNOWLEDGING THE ROLE OF AFRICAN VOLUNTEERS IN THE FIGHT AGAINST EBOLA We, the Heads of State and Government of the African Union, meeting in our Twenty-Fourth Ordinary Session in Addis Ababa, Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, from 30 to 31 January 2015; 1. EXPRESS DEEP CONCERN about the outbreak of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), the number of deaths and its socio-economic impact on the continent; 2. ALSO EXPRESS CONCERN about the particular impact of the EVD outbreak on women and children; 3. EXPRESS OUR PROFOUND APPRECIATION for the Commission and its Chairperson for the invaluable efforts deployed to tackle the grave Ebola crisis in the West Africa Region, particularly with the establishment of ASEOWA and the subsequent deployment of numerous spontaneous health volunteers from several African countries in aid of the Member States affected by Ebola; 4. NOTE WITH SATISFACTION the presence of numerous young spontaneous volunteers who responded to African Union Commission’s call to join in ASEOWA mission ; 5. ALSO NOTE WITH SATISFACTION the contributions of ASEOWA, which has made significant difference in the on-going fight against Ebola; 6. COMMEND and EXPRESS PROFOUND APPRECIATION for the young people of the continent who put their lives at risk and answered the Commission’s call for medical volunteers to assist the affected countries; 7. HAIL the spirit of sacrifice of all the health professionals, especially those from Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria who have lost their lives in the fight against the Ebola Virus Disease; 8. REQUEST the Commission together with the partners and Civil Society Organizations to build a database of all health workers who lost their lives for the purpose of honouring them after the epidemic is declared over; 9. ALSO REQUEST the Commission to put in place a mechanism for honouring all ASEOWA volunteers and personnel who have served creditably; 10. FURTHER REQUEST the Commission to submit progress report on the implementation of this Declaration at our 26th Ordinary Session in January 2016; 11. DECIDE that the Global Conference on Ebola will be held in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea in 2015.