“Poor donor response” to emergency situation

“The cumulative humanitarian relief response during the last nine months has not been commensurate to the scale and severity of the emergency situation” in Eritrea, and most of the problems faced by vulnerable populations will continue into the new year and beyond, an appeal from Action by Churches Together (ACT) stated on Wednesday. Donor response to appeals by the Eritrea Relief and Refugee Commission (ERREC) had not been very encouraging and the emergency situation, due mainly to the war with Ethiopia and prolonged drought, had resulted in an increasing incidence of malaria, diarrhoea and upper respiratory diseases, “especially among children in camps for displaced and deportees (from Ethiopia),” it said.