05 April 2000
Aid Organizations Warn of Impending Famine in Horn of Africa
(Situation could be worse in Ethiopia than in 1980s) (750) By Judy Aita Washington File United Nations Correspondent United Nations -- Warning of impending widespread famine in the Horn of Africa, representatives of two major humanitarian aid organizations said April 5 that governments and relief agencies must begin sending food and water to Ethiopia immediately to prevent an even greater crisis in the region. At a press conference at U.N. headquarters, officials of Oxfam America and Save the Children said that after three years of drought the people of southeast Ethiopia have lost their cattle and are out of grain, seeds, and agricultural tools. People do not have water for their animals or for their own drinking, and many are migrating into towns. They said that conditions may be worse than the famine of 1984-85, which killed nearly one million people. Michael Delaney, Oxfam's humanitarian director, who recently returned from Ethiopia, said that "the situation is quickly deteriorating from what would have been a success story. People have fended and fought off this drought for the past three years... This current season's rain has not fallen and people and the cattle which is their livelihood have been dying. "Since the end of February, large herds of cattle have died. The economy is shattered," Delaney said. Farmers have sold their tools and feed for the next harvest, he said, so "we know this is going to have long-term implications because people are not going to have the seeds or tools for the next planting." One woman in the Borena Zone told him, "Now that my cattle have died, we're now waiting for us to die as well," Delaney said. "The drought conditions are moving progressively northward and will affect much more of the country over time," said Rudolph von Bernuth, associate vice president of Save the Children. In Ethiopia alone, 7.7 million people are now affected by drought, Oxfam estimates. Von Bernuth, who worked in Ethiopia during the famine in 1984, said that the current situation is "certainly one of the most critical facing Ethiopia in the last several decades." "We have a small window of opportunity in which a concerted effort on all levels -- government, non-governmental organizations and the local organizations in Ethiopia, and the people of Ethiopia, working together -- can prevent a greater crisis from happening," Delaney said. Delaney said that the response of the U.S. government "has been very , very good. ... It responded with a pledge that met half of the requirements put forth by the Ethiopian government." Washington responded to a plea from Ethiopia to the international community for about 800,000 metric tons of food aid with a pledge of more than 400,000 metric tons, he said. But, generally speaking, aid for Ethiopia has been slow in materializing and Ethiopian officials meeting with the European Union in Cairo April 4 criticized the international community for not responding before it is too late. "We have been trying very hard to encourage the major donors to focus on this as a serious emergency," von Bernuth said. "To be fair, the Ethiopian government, as well, has not focused as much on the issues of the drought in the south as they might have. So there is shared responsibility." Delaney said that "it is important that world attention be focused on the people of Ethiopia and the need that exists. Once we get the attention focused on that issue, then other things will fall into place." Delaney and von Bernuth stressed that with so many levels of logistical problems in getting aid to the needy in Ethiopia, "a coordinated effort is key in this response." Von Bernuth also said that food is not all that is needed in the region. Donors will have to address the issues of migration and the inadequate seaport capacity throughout the region. "We will have a difficult time managing the importation of the food in a timely matter to get to the people," he said. Drilling rigs for wells, water tankers, and purification equipment are also desperately needed. Rehabilitation work will have to be done to build new and deeper wells and provide necessary seeds, tools, and animals to allow the people to return to the land when it finally does begin to rain, they said. (The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: usinfo.state.gov)
Return to the Washington File
