From: Yemane Natnael (yemane_natnael@yahoo.com)
Date: Sat Jul 26 2008 - 14:30:20 EDT
U.S. Emergency Assistance to Horn of Africa Over $797M to Date
WASHINGTON,
July 25 -- The U.S. Government, through the
U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Department of State, has provided more than $797 million in assistance to date to help people affected by
the complex emergency in the Horn of Africa in fiscal year 2008.
This funding provides emergency food assistance, nutrition,
health, agriculture and food security, and water, sanitation, and hygiene interventions, as well as assistance to refugees
and conflict-affected people in Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia.
Consecutive seasons of failed rains,
localized civil insecurity, periodic trade disruptions, and rising local and global food prices have created a complex food
insecurity crisis in the Horn of Africa. Approximately 16 million people in Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia
are in need of emergency assistance.
According to reports from the USAID-supported Famine Early Warning System Network
(FEWS NET), which is a specialized information network that analyzes information provided by multiple technologies located
both in the skies and on the ground, the number of food insecure people in the Horn of Africa region is expected to continue
to increase in the coming months due to rising food costs and reduced crop production resulting from the poor performance
of the March to May rains. Poor urban populations are particularly vulnerable to rising food prices due to a dependency on
the market for the purchase of the majority of staple food needs.
An
augmented USAID East and Central Africa Regional Office in Nairobi,
Kenya, and a U.S. Government Humanitarian Assistance Team in Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia, are monitoring conditions throughout the region and
coordinating with United Nations and international relief agencies to
identify response priorities and provide assistance to affected areas.
http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/emergency-assistance-horn-africa-m-date/
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