Famine-prone areas worse off - Save the Children UK

Famine-prone areas of Ethiopia are worse off now than 20 years ago at the time of the 1984 tragedy that claimed up to a million lives, Save the Children UK (SC UK) said on Monday. Mike Aaronson, head of SC UK, said in a statement it was "shocking" that millions of children still went hungry in Ethiopia, blaming apathy by world leaders. "Millions of people in the historically famine-prone northeastern highlands are worse off and more vulnerable than ever," he said on the eve of British Prime Minister Tony Blair's three-day visit to Ethiopia to push Africa's plight to the top of the world agenda. Blair will head a delegation under his Commission for Africa - part of a personal crusade to tackle famine, HIV/Aids and poverty. But Aaronson condemned the "lack of political will" by world leaders and said in Ethiopia aid efforts had been "paltry". SC UK stressed that 4 million people faced starvation each year without western handouts - 20 years after Bob Geldof formed Band Aid to help feed desperate Ethiopians when 8 million faced starvation. "It is shocking that 20 years after Band Aid millions of children still experience hunger," Aaronson said. "We know what world leaders need to do to meet their promise to halve world poverty by 2015," he said. "Yet, in the last 20 years, donors have shown a lack of political will and a short-sighted approach to aid that has compounded poverty in Ethiopia." Ethiopia is one of the poorest nations on earth, where average annual incomes are just US $100. One in six children die before they reach the age of five. Yet the aid level of $1.9 billion a year is still one of the lowest in Africa. The Ethiopian government says it needs at least $1 billion extra a year if it is to end the cycle of dependency and halt the spread of poverty. In his statement, Aaronson criticised a heavy dependence on food aid - which makes up half of the aid to the country. He said more must be spent on developing the country by investing in education and health care. "A great deal of money has gone into keeping people alive with food aid," Aaronson said. "However, in comparison, the sum invested in longer-term development to lift Ethiopia out of the cycle of poverty has been paltry. For example, providing access to essentials such as health care and education - these are crucial building blocks for economic progress and the development of any country, but more so in Ethiopia today," he said.