People trekking to relief centres

In a visit to Gode, capital of Ogaden and epicentre of Ethiopia’s hunger crisis, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Carolyn McAskie said at a news conference that people she had seen were in a “very serious condition” and that the food problem was not over. On a visit to Gode on Monday, McAskie said she had seen destitute people trekking in from the parched countryside to towns in search of food and medicine, reported AP.
Women and children in the Ogaden were walking up to 19 kms to reach locations where relief food and medicine are provided, she told reporters - “What I saw in Gode is that more people are now coming from even farther away, and they are in a very serious condition”.

According to McAskie the pledge from donors to Ethiopia was sufficient for the next few months, but additional transport was needed. She also said she was encouraged because some relief food and medicine had been stored in the area, and there was more on the way from both the government and international donors, reported news agencies