The United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) has appealed for extra resources to help thousands of severely malnourished children in Ethiopia – more than 126.000 children could be affected, BBC online reports Saturday.
The UN World Food Programme says nearly 3 million Ethiopians will need emergency food aid this year. A BBC correspondent who visited a feeding centre says she saw a child whose arm was as thin as a mans thumb (tommelfinger). Some aid agencies running food and medical units say they are being overwhelmed with cases.
Consecutive failed rainy seasons, increases in food prices and a lack of resources for prevention and response mechanisms are all contributing factors in the drought-prone districts of Ethiopia, according to UNICEF.
UNICEF says the situation is the worst since the major humanitarian crisis of 2003, and is rapidly deteriorating. The organisation says 50 million US dollar is urgently required for health, nutrition and water and sanitation.
– We had nothing to eat after the corn crop failed, said Dureti Degefi, one of the mothers at a feeding centre in Ethiopias Siraro District, adding: – My stomach is hungry. And my baby is sick. We need help.
UNICEFs deputy representative in Ethiopia, Viviane Van Steirteghem, said NGOs were working in 55 districts and, with the government, managing to provide for about 50 per cent of the cases.
The vast mountainous country has not even reached the normal hungry season yet. The next harvest will not be until August or September, BBC adds.
