ETHIOPIA: Humanitarian conditions to get worse - UNICEF

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

ADDIS ABABA, 21 Apr 2005 (IRIN) - Humanitarian conditions in Ethiopia are set to get worse now that a scheme to end aid dependency has been delayed, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned on Thursday.

According to UNICEF, malnutrition was increasing due to "difficulties" with the Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP), and funding shortfalls were holding up measles and polio vaccination campaigns.

A lack of support from the international community in areas like health, water and nutrition was also hampering the humanitarian response, it added.

Thursday’s warning came as the Ethiopian government prepared to make a new appeal for support on 2 May, to help the growing numbers needing food aid and emergency assistance. It expected to announce an increase in the number of people needing aid this year – which currently stands at around seven million.

In December, the UN and the Ethiopian government appealed for US $112 million for health, nutrition, water and sanitation, but have so far received less than a quarter of that. Some $159 million was also requested to help feed 2.2 million people facing hunger.

"Despite the mounting humanitarian needs, contributions have remained very low, especially in the non-food sector," UNICEF said in a report.

Under the government’s support systems, people in need this year were supposed to receive aid either through the PSNP for the chronically hungry, or via emergency food hand-outs for those facing unexpected shortages.

Under the PSNP, five million people were due to receive food or cash (70 cents a day) for working on public schemes like building small irrigation plants. Some two million people were due to receive food aid under the parallel emergency scheme.

Some farmers were supposed to start receiving support from the PSNP on 1 January, but delays have meant that aid has only been distributed in certain areas.

UNICEF also expressed concern about the government’s resettlement programme, whereby more than 2.2 million subsistence farmers are being relocated over three years to boost harvests.

"Unfortunately the education sector has been neglected in all resettlement plans, and UNICEF is advocating the urgent establishment of needed educational opportunities for the children in the resettlement areas," the five-page report said.

It added that the stalemate between Ethiopia and Eritrea over their shared border was also hindering development. "In these situations children remain highly vulnerable," it warned.

Both the PSNP and the resettlement programme are key elements of the government-led New Coalition for Food Security, a three-to-five year project to stop 15 million people living a hand-to-mouth existence from being dependent on foreign aid.

The government project includes a host of strategies aimed at reversing dependency - including improving roads, clinics and schools for impoverished farmers, creating sustainable livelihoods and improving agricultural technology in areas where water is scarce.

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