Britain pledges $50m for drought-hit Ethiopia

Britain has pledged $50-million for drought-hit Ethiopia, where 9,6-million people are in need of emergency food aid, its embassy said on Wednesday.

The money will finance food distribution, medical support, nutrition and water supply.

“We are very concerned about the humanitarian situation in Ethiopia. That’s why DFID [Department for International Development] is making this additional funding available with immediate effect,” said Howard Taylor, DFID’s representative in Ethiopia.

In June, London pledged $19-million for Ethiopia.

The World Food Programme on Monday launched an appeal for $460-million to the millions of Ethiopians affected by drought and rising food prices.

Aid organisations say Ethiopia, Africa’s second-most populous country, is on the brink of famine akin to those of the 1980s, when millions of people died.—AFP