Funding crisis could leave millions hungry - WFP

A drastic funding crisis could affect three million Ethiopians who need food aid, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned in a press release issued on Tuesday. WFP said it urgently needed US $33 million to cover half the country’s emergency food needs for the next two and a half months – this would feed 1.5 million Ethiopians. The government and NGOs have previously contributed towards feeding the other 1.5 million, but they too are facing funding shortages. "The lack of funds is making it impossible for WFP and its partners to adequately meet the needs of hungry Ethiopians," Georgia Shaver, WFP’s country director in Ethiopia, was quoted as saying. "The situation is particularly worrisome in the northeast and east of the country, as well as in the south, where we are seeing higher levels of malnutrition, and where water and food remain scarce," Shaver added. According to the press release, the 2005 UN Humanitarian Appeal for Ethiopia had remaied short of food and non-food items. Launched in December 2004, the appeal target was $271 million. Just 58 percent of the $212 million-worth of food required for 2005 has been secured so far, the statement added. For non-food items, such as health, nutrition, water, sanitation and agriculture inputs, less than 20 percent has been received. Shaver said: "In the south, which experienced drought and a failed harvest, up to 6,000 children have already dropped out of school, as their families send them in search of food or work." In parts of the Somali region in the east of the country, she added, "severe malnutrition rates were already reported at 4.8 percent in January, with five out of 10,000 affected children dying on a daily basis." Tuesday’s statement said the delayed start of a new government safety-net programme, designed to address the long-term food needs of another five million people, had placed further stress on the population. The agency said food commodities, particularly cereals and beans, could be bought on the local market if donors provided cash. It stressed the importance of contributions being secured urgently, so that food aid could be in place before the rainy season began in July, making many areas of the country inaccessible.