Up to 10 million people in Ethiopia need assistance including more than 400,000 who are at risk of severe malnutrition, experts have said this week as the country faces its worst drought in 30 years.
Nine-year-ole Zahara Ali cooks breakfast in a rural village in the Dubti Woreda, Afar Region, Ethiopia. PICTURE: UNICEF Ethiopia/2015/Tanya Bindra
In an opinion piece published in the Huffington Post, the heads of four key UN agencies said back-to-back seasons of poor or non-existent rainfall, “exacerbated by the strongest El Niño phenomenon on record”, have led to the worst drought in decades.
“At the beginning of this year, less than three million Ethiopians needed government support,” wrote Stephen O’Brien, UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator,
Antonio Guterres, UN high commissioner for refugees, Ertharin Cousin, executive director of the World Food Programme and Anthony Lake, executive director of UNICEF. “Today, that figure stands at an estimated 10 million, and forecasts indicate that it could double within months.”
The agency heads said that while those who remember the 1980s “may feel a disturbing sense of déjà vu”, unlike the situation of 30 years ago, “Ethiopians can survive this crisis without witnessing a repeat of the devastating famine that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives 30 years ago”.
To that end, they have called for “decisive action” to head off the crisis and, noting that the Ethiopian Government is already responding with food aid for eight million people, have asked international donors to ramp up their support. They said that while an additional $US200 million has been provided in aid, “there are early indications that the amount needed to make sure lives are not lost could be around $(US)1 billion”.
“The government has raised the alarm and international aid agencies have tried to mobilize funds and action,” they wrote. “But with multiple crises around the world and record numbers of people displaced by conflict, they have had limited success. There are many claims on donor funds and by global standards, Ethiopia does not look urgent.”
“By the time it looks urgent, it will already be too late. We must not repeat the mistake of 30 years ago, when the world ignored the unfolding crisis for far too long and only heeded the alarm when the situation was beyond control.”
