From: Biniam Haile \(SWE\) (eritrea.lave@comhem.se)
Date: Sun Aug 10 2008 - 18:01:36 EDT
UN appeals for assistance for drought-stricken Djibouti
8 August 2008 - The United Nations and Djibouti's Government have
launched an appeal for nearly $32 million to help the Horn of Africa
nation, which is reeling from years of drought and insufficient rain,
along with surging fuel and food prices.
The funds would help nearly 150,000 people, including refugees and
asylum seekers, in danger of going hungry for six months.
A joint Government-UN evaluation found that in rural Djibouti, there has
been a catastrophic loss of livestock and soaring malnutrition, with
over half the population living in extreme poverty. The urban poor have
been hit just as hard by the steep increases in food and fuel prices,
with many families reduced to one or two meals a day.
Deteriorating food security in Somalia has also driven many across the
border into Djibouti.
The new call will also help children under the age of five at risk of
malnutrition by doubling the number of children in remote areas reached
to 25,000. It will also provide full food rations for 80,000 rural
people and food or cash vouchers for 55,000 in urban and semi-urban
regions.
The funds will improve water and sanitation facilities and protect over
400,000 animals from disease.
In a related development, the UN hopes that a $30 million boost will
help to ease the suffering of millions of people in the one dozen
countries most devastated by the global food crisis.
The funding from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) will be
put towards humanitarian programmes in Djibouti, Eritrea, Kenya, Burkina
Faso, Burundi, Lesotho, Madagascar, Niger, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Yemen
and Zimbabwe.
"Millions of people in these 12 countries are on the margins of survival
because of the combination of drought, crop failure, and rising fuel and
food prices," said Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes.
This latest round of funding comes from the $100 million that the CERF
sets aside to take immediate life-saving action - such as providing food
aid and agricultural support - in priority countries.
The Fund is the UN's central donation facility, collecting contributions
from Member States and other donors year round so that funds are on hand
for immediate humanitarian relief in emergencies.
"The CERF has been an integral part of the emergency response to the
global food crisis," said Mr. Holmes, who also serves as
Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs.
Since it was launched in 2006, it has made nearly $900 million available
for rapid disaster relief, helping UN agencies, funds and programmes to
save tens of thousands of lives in 62 countries struggling with
disasters, armed conflicts or both.
Nearly $60 million has already been earmarked for food projects under
the CERF's regular rapid response window.
The Fund has some $12 million left to react to new emergencies until the
end of this year, but the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs (OCHA) warns that demands caused by the food crisis are
continuing to rise. Unless the CERF is replenished, many of them will
have to be addressed through bilateral funding from donors. So far, over
$430 million of the Fund's $450 million target has been pledged by
donors.
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