UN raises almost R12bn to boost aid to Ethiopia

The UN on Tuesday received financial pledges for about twothirds of the $1bn (R19bn) it was seeking to raise to boost humanitarian aid to Ethiopia, which has been hit by conflict, drought and floods.

A UN-hosted pledging event, organised along with the governments of Ethiopia and the UK and held at the UN in Geneva, is designed to increase life-saving assistance to 15.5million people and food aid to 10.4-million.

“The emergency has been building up through cycles of droughts and floods, and conflict,” the UN humanitarian office (OCHA) said.

“El Nino [weather pattern] has exacerbated a drought in the northern highlands and millions of people are coping with less water, drier pastures and smaller harvests.”

The US was providing nearly $154m (R2.9bn) in humanitarian assistance in Ethiopia to address urgent needs resulting from conflict, insecurity, and climate shocks, the US state department said on Tuesday.

OCHA said that conflict and climate shocks had caused more than 21-million people in Ethiopia to require humanitarian aid this year, and that 10.8million people were projected to be critically food insecure during the lean season between July and September.

OCHA said that 21 countries had made pledges totallying $628.9m (R11.95bn).

The biggest donor was the US followed by the UK and the EU.

Andrew Mitchell, Britain’s deputy foreign secretary and minister for development and Africa, said earlier he hoped the pledge would encourage other countries, including in the Gulf region, to take part.

However, none were on the donor list.

A two-year war that erupted in November 2020 between the federal government and forces led by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, which dominates the northern region, has killed tens of thousands of people, created famine-like conditions for hundreds of thousands, and displaced millions.