More help needed to speed drought recovery

Speaking in Geneva on 12 July, Catherine Bertini, Executive Director of the UN World Food Programme said that a well-managed international and national response had helped prevent famine in the Horn of Africa but that the humanitarian campaign would not truly be a success without a sustained follow-up that enabled people to rebuild their lives. Bertini, who is also the UN secretary-general’s Special Envoy on the Drought in the Horn of Africa was participating in a panel discussion convened by the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) to consider natural disaster preparedness and response measures.

Referring to the drought crisis in the Horn of Africa, Bertini said that it had been found that many things in addition to food were needed, such as seeds, medical supplies, equipment and improved security for humanitarian workers. Recently, she pointed out, donor funding had been falling short of what was needed. Earlier in the week, the special envoy had told the Council that while the emergency phase of the response to well-publicised disasters was usually well-funded, much more needed to be done in the longer term to help people recover. [See IRIN Web Special: Struggling with the legacy of drought - http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/webspecials/drought/index.phtml]