Xinhua
14 May 2022, 02:55 GMT+10
NAIROBI, May 13 (Xinhua) -- Senior ministers from the Horn of African states on Friday made a fresh appeal for robust funding to support humanitarian interventions for about 40.4 million people affected by drought.
The high-level ministerial summit convened by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, vowed to mobilize resources to cater for emergency food aid, clean water and health services in the drought hotspots.
Workney Gebeyehu, the IGAD's executive secretary, noted that food and water insecurity had escalated in the region, hence the need for joint efforts to plug the funding shortfall and avert a humanitarian crisis.
According to Gebeyehu, about 6.3 billion U.S. dollars was urgently required to support the emergency response to the unfolding food scarcity in the Horn of African region, fueled by climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine crisis.
"The number of people in need of humanitarian assistance in the region has risen by 30 percent since April hence our call for increased funding to sustain their livelihoods," said Gebeyehu.
According to the figures from the IGAD, some 8.1 million people are food insecure in Ethiopia, 3.5 million in Kenya, 7.7 million in Somalia, 8.9 million in South Sudan, 10.6 million in Sudan, and 1.6 million in Uganda.
Margaret Kobia, Kenya's cabinet secretary for Public Service, Gender, Senior Citizen Affairs and Special Programs, said the government had rallied behind regional initiatives to boost funding for drought response and Kenya has leveraged domestic financing to provide emergency support including food rations, clean water and medicine to about 3.5 million people affected by drought.
She disclosed that the Kenyan government has spent 8.7 billion shillings (about 74.94 million U.S. dollars) to cater to drought intervention across the water, health, livestock and social protection sectors.
Kobia said that Kenya aimed to plug a funding shortfall of 100 million dollars to sustain drought response in the coming months before the onset of October-December short rains when food production is expected to stabilize.
Esther Anyakun, the Ugandan minister of State for Disaster Preparedness and Refugees, called for sharing of best practices and enhanced coordination to boost funding for drought response across the Horn of African region.
Get a daily dose of Kenya Star news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Kenya Star.
More InformationTUNIS, Tunisia - The Tunisian navy said Saturday that it rescued 81 migrants, including 32 Bangladeshis, sailing from Libya to ...
Health authorities in Mozambique declared an outbreak of wild poliovirus on Wednesday after confirming that a child in the country's ...
If such a move were easy, it would have been attempted a long time ago.In 2021, Russia supplied about 45% ...
An international panel on pandemic readiness has published a gloomy assessmentWhen it comes to future pandemics, a lack of progress ...
A report by Human Rights Watch finds civilians in Burkina Faso are suffering from an increase in attacks by armed ...
Samburu, Kenya - Some youths in northern Kenya are abandoning banditry for alternative ways of earning a living. More than ...
DUBLIN, Ireland: Officials have confirmed that the first dwarf sperm whale has washed up on the shores of Ireland.The announcement ...
NEW DELHI, India: India has banned the exporting of wheat, despite stating it was targeting record international shipments this year, ...
MIAMI, Florida: Local media reported that one person was killed and five were injured when a small plane crashed on ...
VATICAN CITY: While recovering from knee problems that have forced him to use a wheelchair last week, Pope Francis announced ...
BERLIN, Germany: Citing Interior Ministry data, Welt am Sonntag newspaper has reported that more than 700,000 people fleeing the war ...
DOLNI MORAVA, Czech Republic: The world's longest pedestrian suspension bridge has opened at a mountain resort in the Czech Republic. ...