The United Kingdom has announced new emergency humanitarian aid for millions of people affected by the drought in Ethiopia as well as for some 40,000 internally displaced people in Yemen.
The U.K. government has pledged 38 million pounds ($61.1 million) worth of food aid to help feed up to 1.3 million people in Ethiopia, which is affected by one of the worst droughts in East Africa for years.
U.K. Secretary of State for International Development Andrew Mitchell said July 3 that the United Kingdom will support the World Food Program’s feeding operations for three months as well as help the agency provide food aid to 329,000 malnourished children and pregnant and breastfeeding mothers in Ethiopia.
Mitchell also urged the international community to launch a coordinated response to “provide the fast, effective relief that Ethiopia needs now in this difficult time.”
Two days earlier, U.K. Minister of State for International Development Alan Duncan announced 4.5 million pounds in contribution to help the International Committee of the Red Cross respond to the needs of IDPs in Yemen. The money, which is in response to ICRC’s 2011 appeal, will be used to provide food, water, health care and sanitation to thousands of IDPs affected by the fighting in the country.
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