United Nations Radio

The United Nations has appealed for relief supplies worth more than $270 million to support seven million Ethiopians affected by drought in the Horn of Africa.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said more than 380 thousand tons of food and non-food assistance are needed for 2005. It said more than two million people will be provided with emergency food assistance, while more than five million others chronically short of food, will be given assistance in the form of cash or food for labor intensive public works. OCHA said that in addition to food assistance, critical non-food intervention in agriculture, health and nutrition, water and sanitation will be given equal importance, especially in drought-affected parts of the country.