Senior UNICEF official begins visit to Ethiopia to assess drought situation
19 June 2008 – The deputy chief of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) arrived in Ethiopia today for the start of a four-day
visit to review the humanitarian situation in the south and southeast of the country, which has become parched by
drought.
Hilde Johnson, Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF, is expected to meet with Government officials, UN agencies, key
donors and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) while in Ethiopia, according to a statement released in Addis Ababa,
the capital.
As many as 4.6 million Ethiopians are now in need of immediate humanitarian assistance because of a lack of seasonal
rains, coupled with rising food prices. The worst affected areas are in three administrative states of the Horn of
Africa country: Oromio, Somali Region and Southern Nations, Nationalities and People's Region (SNNPR).
Children are among the hardest-hit by the current conditions, with about 75,000 children estimated to be facing severe
acute malnutrition already.
Earlier this month the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) revised its appeal for Ethiopia to
at least $325 million to meet the growing demand for aid.
ENDS