UN appeals for US $353 million

The United Nations appealed for US $353 million to help 13 million drought victims still at risk from regional drought. The Horn of Africa Appeal was launched on Tuesday in Geneva by the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the drought in the Greater Horn, Catherine Bertini. Bertini said that international intervention last year was successful. “We averted a famine,” she said. But she appealed to donors to help alleviate the suffering of hundreds of thousands of people in the Horn who were still at risk. “Don’t stop the flow of relief assistance to the Horn,” said the UN Special Envoy. Last year, donor governments gave US $287 million, which was about 75 percent of the UN Horn Appeal 2000. Although some forecasts indicate improvements in Ethiopia and Somalia, there are significant parts of Kenya, Eritrea, Tanzania and Djibouti which are still awaiting signs of first normal rains this year, a UN press release said. Inadequate rains could have a devestating impact on the already fragile living conditions, and lead to severe malnutrition, disease and population displacement, it said. “This year, it is critical that in addition to immediate relief, we also put in place the mechanisms - such as seeds and tools, livestock services and sanitation - that will help restore the livelihoods of the drought-affected people,” Kenzo Oshima, the Under-Secretary for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, told journalists in New York on Tuesday. See IRIN Webspecial: Surviving Disaster on regional drought http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/webspecials/ogaden/index.phtml