Eritrea food crisis 'worse'

2005-06-24 08:25

Asmara - Food insecurity and malnourishment rates are worsening in Eritrea, said the United Nations on Thursday, urging donors to make up a shortfall in meeting an aid appeal of nearly 50% for this year.

It said a mid-year UN review of food stocks and conditions found the impoverished Horn of Africa nation still needed $74.5m of the $157m needed in 2005.

UN office for the co-ordination of humanitarian affairs (OCHA) said: "With the donor response standing at 52% as of 10 June 2005, requirements for the remainder of 2005 total $74.5m.

"The food security situation worsened in the last half of 2004 and continued in this pattern throughout the early months of 2005."

OCHA noted that an average of 14% of children and 40% of women were suffering from acute malnourishment in four out of six districts surveyed, blaming much of the problem on weather conditions.

Peace deal not fully implemented

It said the situation had been exacerbated by the continuing tensions between Asmara and Addis Ababa about the Eritrean-Ethiopian border, the subject of a 1998-2000 war for which a peace deal had still not yet been fully implemented.

Under that accord, both sides vowed to abide by a border demarcation ruling of an independent commission, but three years after the panel issued its findings, Ethiopia had still not accepted the decision.

OCHA said the absence of a delineated border "adds another constraint to both household and national coping mechanisms.

"Many investment programmes are postponed and families are often missing their menfolk as a result of conscription, placing an unprecedented burden on women and children".

OCHA lamented that late pledges by many donors, particularly in the area of non-food assistance, had forced some agencies to scale back their support in health and water sectors.

The UN estimated that about 2.2 million of Eritrea's 3.8 million people would need humanitarian aid this year.

- SAPA