The number of Ethiopians in need of emergency assistance has risen to 6,4 million, the charity Oxfam said Friday, warning of a disaster if donors did not respond.
“The number of Ethiopians needing emergency assistance has leapt by 40 percent from 4,6 million to 6,4 million people since June,” the British organisation said in a statement, quoting UN and Ethiopian government statistics.
Oxfam said that cereal rations to those needing assistance have been reduced by a third because not enough food is reaching the country. The agency called on all donors to respond generously to the worsening crisis as, according to the UN, the total aid effort is currently under-funded to the tune of 260 million US dollar.
The revised numbers of those needing emergency assistance is likely to be a conservative estimate and does not include the 7,2 million Ethiopians so chronically poor that they receive cash or food aid from the government every year.
Kilde: www.worldbank.org
