-Slashes daily ration due to big financing gap
ADAMA – World Food Program clamours for increased funds as it struggles to feed the staggering number of food-insecure people in Ethiopia with donors now redirecting their funds to other areas impacted by raging conflicts elsewhere in the world.
The program also forecasts burgeoning humanitarian needs as the region braces for more conflicts and natural disasters. The humanitarian agency is struggling to keep pace with the rising humanitarian needs.
The relief agency also depends on loans to continue operations and maintain relief works.
The UN feeding agency also signalled a 341 million USD gap in funding to deliver life-saving food assistance to the most vulnerable over the next six months.
WFP is now providing only 60 per cent of the needed daily nutritional requirement to refugees sheltering in Ethiopia, so said, WFP country director Zlatan Milisic speaking to The Ethiopian Herald.
Due to the increased needs, with over a million registered refugees and asylum seekers in the country; WFP has had to reduce rations to ensure that all refugees are assisted, the country director added.
On Wednesday, WFP in a handing over ceremony held in Adama received 13,582 mt of rice from the Republic of Korea for refugees who are in urgent need in Afar and Somali states.
The agency welcomes Korea’s donation while appealing for more funds and work to help people who are struggling to feed themselves.
“We are borrowing from a contingency fund in which we have to repay and looking at all possible ways to help those in need,”
Currently, Ethiopia hosts over one million refugees who were displaced and fled war-torn neighbouring nations. Countries like Ethiopia also appeal for more international donors and financers to do more to abate the dire humanitarian crisis unfolding in the continent, said the director.
The funding situation is very worrying and the future is not looking very optimistic too. “We are trying to speak to our donors and explore other finances and back our operation. At this moment, we are securing 90 million, but are quite worried that there is a big gap between the demand and supply.”
“We are concerned that our needs are still quite big, 13 million people need humanitarian aid in Ethiopia. And the fund is not even close to what we hope it’s to be.” Milisic added.
Some donors that used to fund WFP have stopped funding over some concerns WFP is strengthening its monitoring and supervision mechanisms to redress concerns of irregularities raised by donors. I understand donors would like to see strong measures put in place and we are trying to implement strong because hungry people cannot wait.
BY DESTA GEBREHIWOT
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD FRIDAY 6 SEPTEMBER 2024
