News outlets report a U.N. Ebola fund has received few pledges, as U.N. officials call for stepped up efforts by the international community and experts wonder why donations from Americans for Ebola efforts have been slow.

Reuters: U.N. Ebola trust fund gets $100,000, almost $1 billion needed
“A United Nations trust fund seeking nearly $1 billion for rapid, flexible funding of the most urgent needs to fight Ebola in West Africa has received a deposit of just $100,000 nearly a month after it was set up…” (Nichols/Wroughton, 10/16).

U.N. News Centre: U.N. chief stresses need for urgent global action as Ebola continues deadly rampage
“Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called on the international community to step up its efforts to respond to the Ebola crisis and turn pledges into action, while the United Nations health agency warned of continuously deteriorating situation in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone…” (10/16).

U.N. News Centre: Funding gap looms amid efforts to tackle ‘twin plagues’ Ebola, ISIL, warns U.N. rights chief
“Combating the ‘twin plagues’ of Ebola and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), while addressing the largest number of forcibly displaced people since World War II amid budget cuts is like ‘being asked to use a boat and bucket to cope with a flood,’ the United Nations’ new human rights chief told journalists in Geneva [Thursday]… (10/16).

Associated Press: Modest response by donors thus far to Ebola crisis
“Individual Americans, rich or not, donated generously in response to many recent international disasters, including the 2010 earthquake in Haiti and last year’s Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. The response to the Ebola epidemic is far less robust, and experts are wondering why…” (Crary, 10/16).