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DATE=4/17/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=ERITREA / DROUGHT (L-O)
NUMBER=2-261413 CQ
BYLINE=CAROL PINEAU
DATELINE=ASMARA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO:  A U-N special envoy has been meeting with 
Eritrean officials in Asmara - the latest stop on her 
tour of the Horn of Africa.  Carole Pineau reports 
from Asmara an estimated 12-million people in the 
region - some two-thirds in neighboring Ethiopia alone 
- are said to be in need of food aid after a severe 
three-year drought. 
TEXT:  U-N special envoy Catherine Bertini met with 
Eritrea's president, government officials, and relief 
workers after touring the country's drought-stricken 
Anseba region.
Ms. Bertini's visit to Eritrea has had little of the 
heart-wrenching aspects of her earlier trip to 
Ethiopia.
Eritrea is suffering the same drought conditions -- 
and receives only about one-half the rainfall as 
Ethiopia.  But the situation here is nowhere as dire.  
Aid workers say people in Eritrea's drought areas are 
stretched to the limit and need assistance, but the 
country has reported no hunger-related deaths.
/// OPT /// Eritrea and Ethiopia have been embroiled 
in a two-year war along their disputed border, with 
both countries diverting huge sums of money and 
resources to the war effort. /// END OPT ///
Three-years ago, Eritrea's government launched a 
program to greatly increase farm cultivation.  Road 
building and other projects where made a priority, 
making it easier to transport food from areas with 
good harvests to drought-stricken regions.  The 
government closed all schools last November and sent 
children and non-essential military personnel to 
farming areas to help with the harvest.
Despite the efforts, there still is need.  The World 
Food Program estimates Eritrea will need 25-thousand 
tons of relief aid to feed the more than 200-thousand 
people in need of assistance.
The W-F-P estimates that in all, more than 940-
thousand tons of food aid will be needed to feed more 
than 12-million people - 70-percent of them women and 
children - who face starvation in the Horn of Africa.
Ms. Bertini earlier visited Ethiopia and Djibouti.  
She travels next to Kenya.   (SIGNED)
NEB/CP/JWH/RAE/JO
17-Apr-2000 14:21 PM EDT (17-Apr-2000 1821 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.