Press Release

22 September 2008

UK announces £42 million emergency assistance for hunger crisis

In response to the growing humanitarian crisis in the Horn of Africa, DFID today announced a £42 million package to help the 17 million people facing hunger in the region.

The additional funding will include £22 million to be split between all of the countries in the Horn of Africa and a further £20 million that will go to Ethiopia to help the country cope with its worsening humanitarian crisis.

The UK’s support will go towards meeting the most pressing needs on the ground and will include direct food distribution, medical support, special nutritional support for mothers and children and clean water supply.

On Friday the UN called for donors to help address the growing humanitarian need of as many as 17 million people in the Horn of Africa. Drought and food shortages in the region have led to the growing number of people in need of emergency assistance and there is a US $716 million funding shortfall for the next three months (October - December).

UK Secretary of State for International Development Douglas Alexander said:

"Millions of people in the Horn of Africa are facing critical food shortages. Without urgent action their lives will be at risk.

"That is why the Department for International Development is releasing with immediate effect £42 million from emergency reserves.

"But this by itself will not be enough and I would urge other nations and donors to respond swiftly to this unfolding humanitarian crisis."

The UK has already announced US$1.4 billion over five years to improve global food security and US$178 million to address the current crisis in the Horn.

This announcement comes ahead of a major meeting of global, business, faith and civil society at the UN in New York on Thursday. At this meeting on the Millennium Development Goals, food security will be a central theme.

On Friday, the UN reported that the recurrence of drought in Africa’s Horn had been amplified by unprecedented food price increases. It said the situation was critical in parts of Ethiopia, Somalia and Djibouti, and was seriously deteriorating in Eritrea, northern Kenya and north eastern Uganda (Karamoja).

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