US gives Ethiopia $91 million
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA
» The United States will provide an additional $91 million in humanitarian aid for Ethiopia to cope with a third straight year of drought, the top U. S. official in charge of assistance said Thursday.
The extra funding brings U. S. aid for food and medical care in Ethiopia to $454 million this year, said Mark Green, the new administrator of the United States Agency for International Development. Another $210 million in U. S. aid has gone to development projects.
Green announced the new tranche of aid after he met with Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn. In a statement he read to reporters, Green said he also had urged the Ethiopian leader to take “concrete steps to create political space for all voices to be heard and to uphold constitutional and guaranteed rights.”
Earlier this month, Ethiopia lifted a 10-month state of emergency follow- ing deadly clashes between security forces and antigovernment protesters alleging right abuses and political cronyism.
“What I said to him is, we look at what countries need around the world to strengthen their ability to deliver for their people,” Green told reporters later in the day. “Responsive governance, and a place for people to come together from different points of view, and to share ideas openly and publicly, history shows is vitally im- portant.
“Our view is the government should continue to do foster that, and do more and more,” he added. “We think it is good for Ethiopia. We think it is the right thing to do.”
Green, who is on his first trip abroad since starting the job three weeks ago, is in Ethiopia to highlight U.S. efforts to help impoverished countries emerge from crises like drought and famine better prepared to weather future setbacks.