The World Food Programme of United Nations has announced that it will suspend some of the food aid it provides to Ethiopia. At the same time, it investigates concerns that donations are being redirected away from those in need.
It will continue to assist those at the most significant risk, such as children and mothers who have recently given birth, and it appreciated what it called the Ethiopian government’s resolve to investigate.
Also, a day ago, the United States, Ethiopia’s largest donor, announced that it had discovered a scheme to redirect assistance and was suspending its help to the country.
There was no indication of who was responsible for it.
Allegations have been made to the donors that Ethiopian government institutions were the ones behind the plot and that military forces were the ones who benefited from it.
Because of the drought and the recent conflict in the Tigray region, more than 20 million people in Ethiopia need assistance with their food supply.
Ethiopia is suffering from the worst drought it has experienced in recent memory. According to the government and several humanitarian organizations, there are more than ten million people who need assistance. Ertharin Cousin, Executive Director of United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP), and Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, travelled to Ethiopia on January 31 to witness first-hand the effects of the drought in one of the regions that have been hit the worst.
Since the beginning of 2015, the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance in Ethiopia has increased by a factor of three. This is because severe drought in some places, which was made worse by the strongest El Nino in decades, caused successive harvest failures and extensive livestock mortality.
The prevalence of severe malnutrition has dramatically increased, and as a result, one-fourth of Ethiopia’s districts are now officially recognized as being in the midst of a nutrition crisis. In 2016, the World Food Program was entrusted with assisting the government in addressing the requirements of 7.6 million people out of a total population of 10.2 million who urgently need humanitarian assistance.
The current Executive Director of UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) and the Secretary-General of the United Nations paid a visit to a drought-stricken region of Ethiopia located a few hours outside of the capital city.
Ban Ki-Moon emphasized how vital it was for the government to lead in coordinating the response to the drought.
Earlier in the day, the Secretary-General highlighted that a crisis of this magnitude “was too much for any Government” when addressing a high-level roundtable discussion on the drought in Addis Ababa. “The international community definately has a responsibility to stand in solidarity with the people of Ethiopia; providing Ethiopia with prompt support will help save lives and prevent needless suffering.” “Immediate support will also be able to safeguard impressive development gains Ethiopia has made over the previous years and decades,” he said.
The World Food Programme has only received 26% of the cash required to feed 7.6 million people in the first six months of this year. Donations must be made right now to prevent a halt in food distributions towards the end of April, which would lead to an increase in the number of people suffering from hunger.
