Millions of Ethiopians need aid as drought crisis deepens

WHILE the world’s attention is firmly focused on the famine in Somalia, another deepening food crisis is emerging in Ethiopia and is now affecting a population the size of Ireland, it has been warned.

According to David Dalton, the head of Plan Ireland, about 4.57 million Ethiopians are in need of humanitarian assistance as the drought crisis deepens.

Speaking from the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, Mr Dalton said action must be taken immediately to avert a similar crisis to the one unfolding in neighbouring Somalia.

“There is a high risk of child mortality and disease outbreaks including measles, acute watery diarrhoea and pneumonia. Just yesterday I visited a health centre in Durame, a large rural town in southern Ethiopia, where I met severely malnourished children, many with hollow eyes, thin arms and swollen bodies, as they are unable to absorb protein,” Mr Dalton said. “The children of Ethiopia need urgent attention and must not be forgotten.”

People in the Horn of Africa region are increasingly unable to cope with the worst drought they have faced in 60 years. Numbers of those affected have now increased to 11.6 million from that of 10 million earlier this month.

Mr Dalton said in addition to concerns over immediate welfare and malnutrition, there are worries over child protection with families being separated, children having to travel far from home to earn money for food, and fears of increased child labour, school dropout and even child marriage.

Meanwhile in Somalia thousands of people are continuing to walk for days to neighbouring countries in search of food.