African Development Bank gives US $1 million to help drought victims

The African Development Bank (ADB) on Thursday approved an aid package of US $1 million for Ethiopia and Eritrea to help them fight devastating drought. "The bank group's assistance, to be shared equally by the two countries, will help strengthen the relief efforts currently underway," the bank said in a statement issued in Tunis. "The funds will be used exclusively for the procurement, transportation and distribution of cereals and pulses to the targeted population." Aid agencies say that more than 11 million people face starvation in Ethiopia while some 70 percent of the 3.4 million population in Eritrea has been affected by drought. The UN's Emergency Unit for Ethiopia (EUE) has warned that a further three million people in Ethiopia could soon need help. "In response to the bleak picture in the country there is a need for the humanitarian community to gear up for the second half of the year," the EUE said in its monthly focus on Ethiopia. On Thursday the charities CARE and Oxfam said that Eritrea had been "forgotten by the world". They urged the European Commissioner Poul Nielson to set an example to other donors and pledge more aid to the country. The EC has so far pledged 16.3 million Euros (US $17.6 million) for the humanitarian crisis in Eritrea. The Eritrean government says only 25 percent of total food needs has been met.