ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA – The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) today appealed for US$460 million to feed 9.6 million hungry people affected by drought and high food prices in Ethiopia through to March next year.
“The Horn of Africa region is facing the worst humanitarian crisis since 1984, and Ethiopia is caught in the middle,” said WFP Executive Director, Josette Sheeran. “We know what needs to be done – we just need the funds to go out and do our job, protecting the hungry.”
Around a quarter of those in need – some 2 million people – live in the arid Somali Region of Ethiopia where it has not rained for three years.
Pastoralist communities in the region have already lost half of their cattle herds. People are skipping meals and parents are pulling children out of school so that they can help to beg in towns or scour the countryside for food.
“Millions of people are in extreme distress and urgently need food and nutrition,” said Sheeran.
WFP is facing a similar humanitarian challenge in neighbouring Somalia, where 3.25 million people – almost half the population – have been affected by drought, high food prices and conflict.
Ninety percent of WFP’s food deliveries to Somalia arrive by sea, but attacks by pirates are disrupting supply lines and discouraging ship owners from making the journey.
A Canadian naval vessel that has been escorting ships carrying humanitarian aid will withdraw its support on 27 September, and no nation has yet volunteered to take over this protective role.
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This is the success story of Meles Zarkawi – the “Green Revolutionary,” the “revolutionary democratic,” and the “Ethno-federalist”. Wherever he casts his shadow, there is famine.
[Reply]
September 22nd, 2008 at 5:11 PM
Nooooooooooo……I call it, “The Ethiopian people are for SALE again”, A- by the few who beg millions of dollars in the name of famine in Ethiopia for their own gains, and 2- the weyanes who are using the donations as a weapon to peruse their continues distraction of Ethiopia. Wake the people of Ethiopia! in your names so many weyanes became millionairs all over the world, in your names NGO’s salaries are fattened by the day, in the name of Ethiopians the word Ethiopia became unanimouse with hunger, misery, shame, ignorance, and above all beggers!
[Reply]
September 22nd, 2008 at 5:12 PM
WFP is wrong again, and her arrogance exacerbates the situation! The WFP executive director does NOT know what to do about the humanitarian crisis, nor about chronic food security prevention and mitigation. Her ignorance is one of the causes of chronic hunger in the Horn of Africa. It’s not a problem of lack of money to buy food aid, it’s multicausal, including both national and international policies, geo-politics of oil and religion, and poverty, land shortage, population pressure and failed international programs to reduce hunger and malnutrition.
[Reply]
September 26th, 2008 at 10:18 AM