Humanitarian Crisis Worsening in Horn of Africa | Voice of America - English
The top U.N. humanitarian official says that conflict, drought, and the global food crisis are worsening the already dire situation in the Horn of Africa.  This has left millions of people needing emergency food assistance to combat severe food shortages.  From U.N.
U.N.Humanitarian Chief John Holmes says that the long-standing crisis inthe Horn of Africa has been made worse by the global food crisis. "Thepoint is that large areas of the Horn of Africa, including parts ofEthiopia, Somalia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Uganda, and Kenya, are now in orsliding towards a humanitarian emergency," said John Holmes. "And webelieve there are something like 14 million people now in urgent needof food aid and other humanitarian assistance in the coming months." Holmessays drought and rising food and fuel prices have heightened the crisisalong with on-going conflicts in many nations, particularly in Somalia. "Thereis an intense conflict going on in parts of Somalia," he said. "Wecalculated something like 850,000 people have been forced to leaveMogadishu over the last year because of the fighting there. So, youhave a compounded problem of the ordinary population with an additionalpopulation of newly displaced people facing these severe foodshortages." In Ethiopia, Holmes says a severe drought anddiseases such as diarrhea, measles, and meningitis, have compounded thehumanitarian crisis. "In Southern Ethiopia, where there is asevere drought, a joint assessment by the government and internationalhumanitarian partners reveals that 4.6 million people were now in needof food emergency support," said Holmes. "And as part of those 4.7million, we believe there is something like 75,000 children severelymalnourished." Holmes is urging the international community, aswell as national governments, to ensure that the necessary resourcesare available to deal with this crisis and to curb the effects ofmalnutrition, including stunted growth and susceptibility to diseases.