From Africa Recovery, Vol.13#2-3 (September 1999), page 8

Africa needs more humanitarian aid, says Annan

UN humanitarian agencies and their partners have been appealing for $796 mn to assist more than 12 million people in Africa this year, but less than half that amount, $352 mn, has been received, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said with alarm on 12 August. The needs of these victims of war and natural disasters are reaching "irrevocable crisis proportions," said the statement by the Secretary-General's spokesman.

Mr. Annan observed that many donor countries currently are experiencing economic growth and robust budget surpluses, yet international aid budgets continue to stagnate or decline. He appealed to donors to make a "special effort" to help the victims in Africa.

Because of the current shortfalls, humanitarian programmes have had to be cut back and even life-saving assistance often is not being provided where it is urgently needed. In Angola, Mr. Annan noted, some 200 lives are being lost each day as the civil war intensifies. Supplies to assist the 2 million Angolans seriously affected by the war "are simply insufficient," he said. In southern and central Somalia, through a combination of conflict, six consecutive poor harvests, and poor prospects for the current harvest, at least 1 million people are threatened with famine.

Mr. Annan cited several other countries in which serious humanitarian needs cannot be met because of the poor donor response: the Republic of Congo, Burundi, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia and Eritrea.

According to a report issued in August by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 16 countries in sub-Saharan Africa are facing "exceptional food emergencies," for a variety of reasons, including civil strife, population displacement, unfavourable weather, poor harvests and localized food deficits. Only three of the countries were not affected to some extent by armed strife or its after-effects. In Ethiopia, for example, 5 million people, 385,000 of whom were displaced because of the war with Eritrea, need emergency food aid, notes FAO.

A number of the countries afflicted by war, Mr. Annan pointed out, have recently taken steps toward peace. "These advances are tenuous," he added, "and must be bolstered by the provision of aid."

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