US provides $797mln emergency aid to Horn of Africa
By Tesfa-alem Tekle
August 1, 2008 (ADDIS ABABA) — The United States have provided more than 797 million U.S. dollars in assistance to the millions of people affected by the complex emergency in the Horn of Africa in fiscal year 2008.
A statement from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), said the funding provides emergency food assistance, nutrition, health, agriculture and food security, and water, sanitation, and hygiene interventions, as well as assistance to refugees and conflict-affected people in Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia.
“Consecutive seasons of failed rains, localized civil insecurity, periodic trade disruptions, and rising local and global food prices have created a complex food insecurity crisis in the Horn of Africa,” said the statement.
The USAID is also warning that at least 16 million people in Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia are in need of emergency assistance.
In an emergency appeal earlier last week Oxfam warned that millions of people in Ethiopia , Somalia , Uganda , Djibouti and Kenya are fast being pushed “towards severe hunger and destitution” due to sever drought and high prices over the major food items.
According to Oxfam latest report, the hunger crisis is worse than the last regional emergency in 2006, when drought caused 11 million people to need assistance, because of the added impact of the global food price increases.
(ST)