Ethiopia: African Leaders Pledge Funds for Famine
By Staff Writer
Addis Ababa--- African leaders are today holding a donor conference to pledge funds that will focus on addressing the humanitarian crisis to tackle the famine in Somalia and extreme drought across East Africa which is putting millions of people at risk of starvation.
The fundraising meeting is being held in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa.
African Union Commission chairman Jean Ping will appeal to the continents' leaders and the international community to assist more than 12 million drought-hit people in the region, in the pledging conference.
The meeting had been initially scheduled for early August, but was postponed due to what officials said were scheduling conflicts.
Kenya, one of the countries hit with the raving famine, has asked the A.U. and international relief groups to consider opening a new refugee camp in a “third country” after an official said Nairobi is overwhelmed by the influx of Somali refugees. Camps along the border with Ethiopia are also filling up.
Kenya has built three camps for Somali refugees in Dadaab but has refused to expand them or build more. The government contends the camps contribute to environmental degradation.
Some 12.4 million people in the Horn of Africa, including parts of Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya and Uganda, are affected by the worst drought in decades in the region and are in need of humanitarian assistance, according to the U.N.
The demands are huge, with a $1.1 billion shortfall from a total $2.4 billion needed, according to U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Somalia is the worst hit, with several southern regions in famine, where more than 390,000 children are at risk of dying from malnutrition, according to OCHA.
On Wednesday, European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton urged the African Union and international community to continue to meet their “moral obligation” to combat the drought, which is the Horn of Africa's most dire in 60 years.
The European Union said it has increased its yearly humanitarian commitment from $140 million to $228 million, and that its member states have contributed an additional $630 million.
The 54-member African Union, which has so far pledged $500,000 in aid, has been strongly criticized for its slow response to the crisis. Last week, a senior U.N. official said the conference hopes to raise $600 million. The United Nations says $2.5 billion of overall aid is needed to combat the famine.