The United Nations' World Health Organization is continuing the testing of experimental vaccines and has become optimistic on the medicine's progress as well as the decreasing number of infections in Liberia.

The WHO held its second high-level meeting on the Ebola virus in Geneva on Thursday, according to a U.N. press release. Members of the WHO as well as pharmaceutical manufacturers and researchers met to plan ahead as trials for two experimental vaccines enter Phase II and Phase III.

Dr. Margaret Chan, director-general of WHO, commended the parties involved for their speedy work while still adhering to international standards.

"You have given yourselves some very tight deadlines and are moving ahead quickly. In fact, what you are doing is unprecedented: compressing into a matter of months work that normally takes 2-4 years, yet with no compromise of international standards of safety and efficacy," she said.

Chan discussed how the virus has decimated families and that those attending have high hopes for the meeting.

"You can give them some of that hope," she said, referring to the people affected in West Africa.

In the meeting, the attendees discussed the initial phases' results, funding schemes to pay for the vaccines, and how to proceed beyond Phase III.

Dr. Chan also said they would review Phase I data on two vaccines and review other candidate vaccines' status.

As vaccine testing continues, some progress has been made in West Africa through conventional means. Liberia, in particular, appears to have improved in the last couple of months, according to a press release.

During his first visit to the disease-stricken region, newly appointed Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed praised Liberia for its progress against Ebola. He warned, however, that this optimism might lead to a "degree of complacency."

"We are not yet there. There is certainly still a lot to be done for Liberia to be claimed free [of Ebola]," Ahmed said.

The numbers on the ground, nonetheless, tell of an improvement, which U.N. Special Envoy on Ebola David Nabarro highlighted.

"The numbers do tell an important story. In the middle of September the epidemiology said that there were about 80 new cases per day of Ebola in this country. It fluctuated and perhaps some days were worse than others. But just at the moment the figure is certainly less than five per day and possibly lower," he explained.

Ahmed also promoted his "3C approach," which emphasized the roles of "countries, communities and coordination." Each of these plays a crucial part in defeating the Ebola epidemic.

Ahmed was named the new head of the UNMEER in December, replacing Anthony Banbury. The Mauritanian has decades of experience working in various U.N. organizations.

In the WHO's latest report, the death rate stands at 8,235 and infections are 20,747.

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