The AfricaAgainstEbola Solidarity Trust (AAEST) Board has appointed Carl Manlan as the Executive Secretary with effect from 1 May 2015.

Coincidentally, Manlan was made Officer of the Order of Merit by the Government of Benin for contributing to improving the health of African people in general and Beninese in particular.

Manlan expressed profound appreciation for the recognition and described it as a great honour for him and other young Africans to excel in their respective domains.

“AfricaAgainstEbola Solidarity Trust is a significant shift in health response and financing by the African Union and the African Private Sector, I ought to add value”, he explained.

“Manlan is an eminent professional with proven experience in development and implementation of projects,” said Professor Dorothée A. Kinde Gazard, Minister of health in Benin.

Prior to joining AAEST, he was the 2014 Mo Ibrahim Fellow in the Office of the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), providing counsel on the development of strategic initiatives, supporting policy development on regional integration and trade.

In the role, he also focused on policy development related to macroeconomic policy and development as well as advised on African Union matters.

Manlan is an economist, from Côte d’Ivoire, who has facilitated multi-stakeholder negotiations to advance the public health goals in Africa.

For more than 10 years, his focus has been on developing systems to improve public health financing, mostly at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. In 2012, he earned a Master's degree in public administration from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.

The #AfricaAgainstEbola campaign is coordinated by the Africa Against Ebola Solidarity Trust, a registered charity, in partnership with the African Union. All donations made to the Africa Against Ebola Solidarity Trust will be used to train, equip and deploy African health workers in the fight against Ebola and to build long term local health capacity.

In partnership with the African Union, their mission is to mobilize resources to send much-needed health workers – drawn from within Africa – to the Ebola-afflicted countries.

Under the operational coordination of the African Union Support to West Africa (ASEOWA), trained doctors and nurses will care for those infected, help contain the disease and strengthen local hospitals and care centers. The main vision is a resilient Africa that is able to respond effectively and rapidly in times of crisis.

Send SMS “Stop Ebola” to 7979 or visit the campaign’s official website, http://www.africaagainstebola.org/ to donate $1 or for more information.