ADDIS ABABA, July 16 (Xinhua) -- The UN World Food Programme (WFP) on Tuesday urged the international community and its humanitarian partners to exert concerted efforts to provide urgent humanitarian support to refugees and Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in Ethiopia.

The WFP made the urgent call as it received 16,000 metric tons of rice, worth 13 million U.S. dollars, from the government of South Korea on Tuesday to feed refugees and IDPs in Ethiopia.

"WFP is grateful to the government of South Korea for this timely contribution," said Steven Were Omamo, WFP Country Director in Ethiopia, adding that "the donation from the South Korean government comes at a critical time as the organization faces a serious funding shortfall to continue its humanitarian activities in Ethiopia mainly for refugees and IDPs."

"The contribution is very important to help us provide food to refugees and IDPs," Omamo added.

According to WFP, recent inter-communal conflicts have resulted in the displacement of 3.19 million people in different parts of the East African country.

Ethiopia currently hosts close to one million refugees who are seeking emergency humanitarian assistance as they fled war and other uncertainties from countries that are Eritrea, South Sudan, Somalia and Sudan, according to the WFP.

The WFP, which presently provides food assistance for some 700,000 of refugees in Ethiopia, also said that "unless other generous countries like South Korea come forward and make donations, WFP may face shortage of resources that will hamper mainly its relief operation."

It also appealed for "an urgent" 272 million U.S. dollars emergency food assistance before the end of this year so as to effectively undertake its emergency humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia.

The donation from South Korea is said to help WFP's humanitarian support to food assistance to some 175,200 refugees and IDPs in Ethiopia's Afar, Somali and Oromia regional states until September 2019, it was noted.

As Ethiopia in recent years struggles to deal with the growing number of refugees mainly from its neighboring countries as well as internal displacement due to recurrent conflicts and drought, the government of South Korea has over the past two years period made in-kind donations to WFP that are worth 25 million U.S. dollars, it was noted.

"The South Korean government recognizes the needs and challenges in supporting IDPs and refugees," said Park Il, Charge d'affaires of the South Korean Embassy in Ethiopia.

Noting South Korea as "a strong development cooperation partner of Ethiopia," Il also reiterated his country's strong commitment in supporting the East African country to address food insecurity among vulnerable communities in the country.

The WFP, as one of the leading humanitarian support provider in Ethiopia, works with different partners in its efforts to address the humanitarian needs of drought and conflict-affected people in different parts of the country.

The WFP has been also a major recipient of humanitarian donations from the government and people of China, according to the Chinese Embassy in Ethiopia and WFP Ethiopia office.

In four rounds of supports, through bilateral and multilateral channels, China has so far provided an emergency aid to Ethiopia totaling about 36.6 million U.S. dollars, making it the third-largest food aid contributor in Ethiopia, according to figures from Ethiopia's National Disaster Risk Management Commission.

Speaking to Xinhua, Paul Anthem, Head of Communications, Donor Relations and Reports Unit at WFP Ethiopia, had previously said that the WFP has been receiving donations from the government of China for the past several years, especially for its relief and nutrition activities.

"The donations usually arrive at critical times when the country was in need of humanitarian assistance and millions required urgent nutritional support," said Anthem.

"The contributions directly benefited the poor who have been suffering from malnutrition," he added. Enditem

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)