UN calls for "Food First" Policy as Aid Funding Slumps by World Food Programme / IRIN / Oxfam Reuters 11:04am 6th May, 2005   04 May 2005    Deliveries of world food aid slid by 30 percent in 2004 despite rising numbers of hungry people and record levels of money from donors, the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Wednesday.    The United Nations food agency said it was disturbed by the trend and appealed for food aid to take priority over infrastructure projects such as the building of roads and ports.    "It's time for a Food First policy," said WFP executive director James Morris. "Hungry children don't get any sustenance from the roads, ports and factories we build with the increases in development aid.    "We have to put ending to hunger and malnutrition at the top of our priority list. The cost in human suffering is just too high and it's going up," he said in a statement.    The Rome-based WFP said total food aid delivered from all sources fell from 10.3 million tons in 2003 to 7.5 million tons in 2004, continuing a downward trend stemming from 1999, when 15 million tons of food aid were delivered.    Over the same period, the number of hungry people in the world rose from an estimated 790 million to 852 million.    "All the major donors have been building up their development assistance over the last few years and it is at a record level of nearly $80 billion. So the money is there. More of it must make its way to hungry people," Morris said.    FLASH UPDATE -- 2005 JOINT HUMANITARIAN APPEAL FOR ETHIOPIA    ADDIS ABABA, 4 May (UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) -- The Ethiopian Government and humanitarian partners today issued a Flash Update to the 2005 Joint Humanitarian Appeal for Ethiopia, asking for $320 million, of which 47 per cent has been secured, to urgently address the deteriorating humanitarian conditions that are threatening the country.  The original appeal for Ethiopia sought $272 million.    “The Flash Update is in response to an increase in the number of vulnerable people requiring both food and non-food humanitarian assistance since the beginning of the year”, said Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Commissioner Simon Mechale.    “With emerging data about acute malnutrition, there is concern about survival of children in parts of the country, as well as food security and general stress amongst the population at risk in some of the worst affected areas”, said Acting United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator Georgia Shaver.    “This situation has resulted from a combination of an increase in the number of vulnerable people requiring assistance and delays in the distribution of transfers to beneficiaries, either under the Humanitarian Appeal or the Productive Safety Nets Programme during the first three months of the year”, she added.    Multi-agency teams led by the Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Commission (DPPC) conducted field assessments in eight regions in late April and revised both emergency beneficiary numbers and their food and non-food aid requirements.    Food aid beneficiaries have increased by 687,470 from 3.1 million to 3.8 million.  This translates into an additional food aid requirement of 66,198 metric tonnes, increasing the total requirement to 464,385 metric tonnes.  Taking into account contributions already pledged and received, a shortfall of approximately 165,510 metric tonnes of food, valued at $66.2 million, remains to be secured.  The original appeal sought some $159 million in food aid, while the current requirement is $185 million.    On the non-food side, only 22 per cent of the total revised requirement of $135.6 million has been met, leaving a funding gap of $105 million.  Critical gaps remain in all sectors with “Health and Nutrition” and “Water and Sanitation” both increasing their requirements by $12 million each.    In particular, supplementary food is essential to reduce the current prevalence of acute malnutrition. “Recent nutrition information indicates a worrying trend in vulnerable areas and a fast deteriorating situation.  To date, 136,000 children in the most vulnerable areas are severely malnourished.  This figure could grow to 370,000 children over the next eight months.  The level in vulnerable areas is double the national average and has reached critical levels of 4 per cent in some areas”, said Ms. Shaver.    “Without treatment, a considerable number of severely malnourished children may die, which could be accelerated if diseases such as measles, diarrhoea and pneumonia are not prevented.  Currently, we can meet the needs of only 3,000 severely malnourished children and urgent resources are required to scale up treatment capacity to reach 40,000 children per month”, she emphasized.    Furthermore, moderate malnutrition rates are also well above emergency threshold levels in a number of areas.  Three hundred forty thousands children with moderate malnutrition could become severely malnourished if not addressed urgently.    “As a result of strengthened information for early warning, there is now a window of opportunity for donors to provide urgently needed funding support to stave off a major crisis”, said the Commissioner.    May 4, 2005    Urgent Action Needed to Avert Major Crisis for Millions of Ethiopians. (Oxfam America)    As millions of Ethiopians face an escalating humanitarian crisis, international aid agency Oxfam is urging the international community to respond to the Ethiopian government's appeal today for $48 million in additional emergency assistance, increasing the total appeal to $320 million. The number of people in need has grown from 3.1 million to 3.8 million, and the funds include $25 million for additional food aid, as well as $23 million for emergency health, nutrition, water and sanitation assistance. Currently, only 47 percent of the appeal is funded.    "Somewhere along the line, three million Ethiopians have become a negligible statistic," said Abera Tola, who directs Oxfam International's humanitarian program in Ethiopia. Meanwhile, acute malnutrition and deaths continue to increase among young children. Outbreaks of measles, meningitis, and other contagious diseases are further endangering communities.    In a joint appeal issued last December, the government and the United Nations asked the international community to contribute $159 million for food and $113 million for other forms of emergency assistance-health and nutrition, water and sanitation, and agriculture-for more than 2.2 million people, as well as an additional 900,000 people in pastoralist areas. Today's appeal reflects both an earlier underestimation of the scope of response required and a delay in implementing the government's new public works initiative, the Productive Safety Net Program. The program is designed to support five million people in chronic need of food assistance, but its slow start means that many of its intended beneficiaries will now need emergency aid to make it through the next few months.    Yet just how quickly donor countries will respond to the new appeal is an open question. Since the December appeal, they have contributed 75 percent of the requested food and just 27 percent of needs other than food in response to one of the world's major forgotten emergencies. This delayed donor response has contributed to the current crisis.    Food aid is not enough. And pledges of aid will do no good if donors fail to follow through now, before the rainy season makes it impossible for aid groups to deliver the urgently needed assistance.    "To save people's lives and break the cycle of drought, we must protect people's health and livelihoods as well," said Tola. "This means ensuring that people have safe drinking water and health services, as well enabling them to replant their crops and protect their herds."    The recent heavy rains in Somali region have caused flooding that has destroyed homes, washed away people and livestock, and further burdened communities already struggling from years of drought.    "Rain is not an instant miracle," said Sisay Getachew, a disaster preparedness and management officer for Oxfam. "The positive impact of the rain will not be felt for two to three months, when the cattle, sheep, and goats give birth. Then people will have milk, meat, and animals to sell. For now, they must be supported in terms of food, water, and health services."
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