News outlets report on several leaders’ speeches at the U.N. General Assembly meeting, during which they discussed development issues and Ebola.

Associated Press: U.N. chief urges hope in world seeming to fall apart
“The United Nations chief called for world leaders Wednesday to join an international campaign to ease the plight of nearly unprecedented numbers of refugees, the displaced and victims of violence in a world wracked by wars, and the swift-spreading and deadly Ebola epidemic…” (Lederer, 9/24).

U.N. News Centre: Opening General Assembly debate, Ban urges leadership to move from ‘turbulence’ to peace
“…[U.N. Secretary-General] Ban’s annual opening message, which draws from his yearly report on the work of the organization, was not entirely bleak. ‘Hope may be hard to discern, but it is there,’ he said. ‘In clinics, classrooms, and other places far from the spotlight, the development agenda is making remarkable progress. Global poverty, child mortality, and maternal deaths have been cut in half. More remains to be done, but these and other gains show the power of the Millennium Development Goals and what we can do when we work together. Today an inspiring global conversation is taking place on an agenda for the next 15 years’…” (9/24).

Agence France-Presse: Obama urges ‘broader’ world effort to stop Ebola
“U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday urged other countries to get behind a broader international effort to stop the deadly Ebola epidemic from spreading further, with hundreds of thousands at risk. In a speech at the U.N. General Assembly, Obama grouped Ebola with the crisis in Ukraine and the threat posed by Islamic State group jihadists in Iraq and Syria as ‘new dangers’ that imperil global security…” (9/24).

U.S. Department of Defense: Obama: U.N. Will Mobilize Countries to Fight Ebola Outbreak
“In a speech [Wednesday] morning before the United Nations Security Council summit on foreign terrorist fighters, President Barack Obama likened this distant yet urgent problem to another remote but rising global threat — the Ebola virus disease outbreak in West Africa…” (Pellerin, 9/24).

U.N. News Centre: South Africa’s President pledges to support Ebola-affected nations, conflict-ridden countries
“The recent outbreak of Ebola in West African has exposed the lack of infrastructure and limited resources in Africa, said South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma [Wednesday] as he pledged to continue, in every possible way, to assist the people and Governments of hardest-hit Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone…” (9/24).

U.N. News Centre: Ebola crisis highlights need for strong resourceful states, Kenyan leader tells U.N. assembly
“‘The Ebola epidemic now sweeping several West African countries underlines the imperative to build strong states that can withstand crises and respond to emergencies,’ Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta told the United Nations General Assembly [Wednesday] on the opening day of its annual high-level segment…” (9/24).