UN’s anti-Ebola trust fund massively short of its US$1 billion goal
Colombia the only donor so far who gave cash to secretary general Ban Ki-moon's flexible humanitarian fund
The UN trust fund for Ebola has barely US$100,000 in cash – just 0.01 per cent of what the world body says it needs to fight the worst outbreak on record – reports said on Friday.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the trust fund was launched to provide fast and flexible funding for the fight against Ebola, focusing particularly on humanitarian needs in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea – the countries hardest hit by the deadly virus.
The existing cash in the fund, which came from Colombia, is a pittance compared to the US$1 billion that the UN has estimated it needs to fight the epidemic that has killed around 4,500 people, said.
Ban earlier said the trust fund had received about US$20 million, but the United Nations later clarified that those were pledges from donors, and only US$100,000 had actually been received.
Ban urged the international community to respond to the appeal immediately, which he said would enable the United Nations "to get ahead of the curve and meet our target of reducing the rate of transmission by December 1".
"Ebola is a huge and urgent global problem that demands a huge and urgent global response," Ban told reporters.
Separately, donors have given cash and non-cash contributions worth about US$376 million – about 38 per cent of the amount sought – to specific UN programmes as of Thursday, according to UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.
The World Health Organisation said on Thursday that the Ebola death toll would reach more than 4,500 this week, from among 9,000 people infected by the deadly disease.
It has projected that there could be between 5,000 and 10,000 new cases a week in early December without urgent action.
Dujarric said donors may choose to give directly to a UN agency or a specific country, or they may channel their contribution through the trust fund which will allow the UN to allocate the funds where they are most urgently required at the time.
Ban said dozens of countries "are showing their solidarity," singling out the US, Britain, France, Canada, Germany, Poland, Japan, South Korea, Cuba and China. But he said it was time that countries that have "the capacity" — which he didn’t identify — provide support.
The secretary-general said he liked the idea of greater public support for the fight against Ebola, including the possibility of a fundraising concert promoted by someone like U2 singer Bono.
"I would welcome any initiative taken by Mr Bono or some other leaders around the world to join this campaign to mobilise funds and mobilise awareness to take urgent action all together and to show solidarity," Ban said.
