Ethiopia seeks donor support to meet drought needs

Feb 03, 2016 Ethiopia, who is enduring one of the worst droughts in decades, recently urged international donors to offer aid promptly for relief operations in the country.

The relief operation, which is spearheaded by the government, World Food Programme and charities, needs $1.4 billion this year to carter for over 10.2 million affected Ethiopians

Speaking on this, Ethiopia’s Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonen said:

“Our government is committed to allocate the budget and mobilise any additional resource to the target groups, we are committed and responsible. We’ll continue in this regard… The action of the international community is very critical and should be on time”

UN secretary general Ban Ki-Moon, who was in Ethiopia for the African Union summit, toured a small health post in the Ogolcho area where children are checked for malnourishment.

“It is important that when the Ethiopian government and national governments are responding to these challenges they have limited resources, that’s what the United Nations is trying to provide. And that is exactly what we are going to discuss in Istanbul in May during this World Humanitarian Summit meeting that I am going to convene. We are going to discuss how we can provide in a sustainable and predictable way and mobilise sufficient funding for those people,”

Ezjeil Gebremedhin, a resident of Ogolcho commented on the situation saying:

“It is really going to be life-threatening if this continues as it is now because we have nothing to eat. We are in the hands of the government now,”

Ethiopia, which is currently one Africa’s fastest growing economies, has been seriously strained by the crisis.

The government spent $272 million last year on relief and has already allocated $109 million so far this year.