AFRICA/ETIOPIA - Millions of Ethiopians face starvation. Guaranteed only 20% of what is necessary for healthcare, water, sanitation and farming

Wednesday, 13 April 2005

Rome (Fides Service) - The United Nations World Food Programme launched an appeal for 33 million dollars to allow it to continue to feed 1.5 million people over the next two and a half months. The WFP warns that the future of three million people in Ethiopia is at risk due to serious food shortage, spreading malnutrition, and increasingly less funds for humanitarian operations in this country.
The situation is especially concerning in the north and east of the country and in the south where there are growing levels of malnutrition and scarcity of food, water,
and non food aid. Only 58% of the 212 million dollars worth of food, 250.000 tons requested for 2005 and only 20% of what is needed for healthcare, cooking utensils, water, sanitation and farming has been guaranteed. In the south, suffering from drought and no harvest, at least 6,000 children have stopped going to school because they are sent by their parents to look for food or work.
Food, cereals and vegetables can be bought at local markets if donations of money arrive. WFP stressed the urgency of the situation to provide food for distribution before the rain season from July to September when many parts of the country will be inaccessible .
To avoid the interruption of the distribution of food WFP will use the new possibility offered by the organisation to supply itself with 30,000 tons of food based on the contributions expected guaranteeing the most urgent food needs.
World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organisation. Every year it supplies food aid to an average of 90 million people, including 56 million starving children in 80 different countries. (AP) (13/4/2005 Agenzia Fides; Righe:28; Parole:338)


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