Humanitarian crisis in the south - OCHA

Failed rains in southern Ethiopia have left some 1.75 million people in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has warned. "Failed meher [June-September] rains have left Ethiopia's southern Somali region and the Borena zone of Oromiya region confronting an escalating humanitarian crisis," it said in a statement released on Monday. OCHA added that the people estimated to require assistance from January to June 2006 were "above and beyond the 5.5 million people already receiving food assistance in the country". Ethiopia is one of the world's most food aid-dependent nations. The agency also warned that a crisis loomed in the northeastern Afar region, where pastures had dried up and communal grazing lands had become "dust bowls". It noted that the growing number of measles cases in the Somali and Afar regions were also a matter of concern. More than 30 people died from the disease in the two regions between October and December 2005. "The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has warned that very low immunisation levels in Somali region, combined with population displacement, which has been exacerbated by the drought, could indicate wider transmission throughout the region," it said. OCHA added that to avoid further outbreaks in 2006, UNICEF estimated that US $18 million would be needed for anti-measles programmes for 12.6 million children throughout Ethiopia. Plans are already underway to immunise some 750,000 children in Somali region in the coming weeks. Paul Hebert, head of OCHA in Ethiopia, said the government and its humanitarian partners would launch a humanitarian appeal for Ethiopia on 23 January. "This appeal will address the emergency food needs of 2.6 million people, out of which the most urgent are about 1.75 million from Somali and Oromiya who are acutely affected by the drought," he added.