Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone receive pledges of $3.4B to help Ebola recovery

A UNICEF aid worker, right, visits a home that had been quarantined due to the Ebola virus for 21 days in Freetown, Sierra Leone, on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2015. (AP / Michael Duff)

The United Nations says donors have pledged $3.4 billion to help Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone recover from the Ebola epidemic which has killed over 11,000 people and devastated the West African countries' economies.

That's more than the $3.2 billion the nations' presidents sought.

U.N. development chief Helen Clark announced at the end of a meeting Friday that with previously announced pledges of around $1.8 billion, the three countries will have about $5.2 billion to rebuild.

Dr. David Nabarro, the U.N. special envoy on Ebola, called the pledges "a really fantastic springboard for the recovery effort."

Liberia's President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said the support will give millions of people a chance to rebuild their lives and promote regional stability and world trade.