Military as ‘humanitarian’ actors - 2 --- E.g. In the beginning of the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone, the nationwide response led by the Health Ministry led to a surge in weekly casualties in less than 6 months since the first case identified. The SL Government, with strong support from the UK government, set up a national coordination system and appointed the defense minister and a retired soldier, who later resigned from his cabinet position, to lead the coordination body. It was successful in getting the country to achieve zero Ebola, including in mobilising capacity from the police/military to assist people at districts and villages.

Source author: Ivy Susanti ivysusanti@gmail.com