Over 30,000 Soccer Fans Support the Fight Against Ebola at 12th Annual Match Against Poverty

United Nations Development Programme team led by Goodwill Ambassadors Ronaldo and Zinédine Zidane competed against French Saint Etienne All Stars with final score 7-9

Saint Etienne, France April 20, 2015 –The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) mobilized its team of top football players today to compete against a Saint Etienne All Stars, in France’s Ligue 1 club to raise both funds for and awareness to help West African nations recover from the Ebola virus crisis.

Two thirds of the match proceeds will be used for recovery efforts in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone where more than 20,000 people have lost their lives to the deadly disease.

However, death and suffering are only part of the crisis. The outbreak has caused a widespread socio-economic crisis of unprecedented proportion, with a real risk that economic and social gains achieved in the three countries could be halted or even reversed.

UNDP is leading the United Nations response on Ebola recovery and is coordinating early recovery actions in the three countries.

Speaking at the match, Gina Casar, UNDP Associate Administrator and second in command of the organization, said: “The international community must now stay the course and continue support for the three most-affected countries as they recover from this devastating crisis.”

“We must get to zero patients, stay at zero and at the same time help the countries build back better”, she added.

The first edition of the UNDP Match Against Poverty was held in Basel in 2003. Since then, the match has taken place in Madrid, Dusseldorf, Marseille, Malaga, Fes, Lisbon, Athens, Hamburg and Porto Alegre, Brazil. Each match, which is televised around the world, has supported specific projects in different countries facing difficult challenges.

Although a friendly match, the players competed as if it were a World Cup playoff, ending with 7 goals for the team of all-stars from UNDP, and the Saint Etienne All Stars winning with 9 goals.

UNDP

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