UN 'runs out of aid for Ethiopia'

[dipsydoodle]

Source: BBC News

The UN has warned that it has run out of food to provide for nine million Ethiopians who rely on its assistance.

A UN spokesman told the BBC the port of Djibouti was seriously congested and there was little prospect of supplies arriving for the next five months.

Following a border war, Eritrea denied Ethiopia access to its ports, so the landlocked country relies on Djibouti.

Correspondents say this time of year is known as "the hunger season", three months before the next harvest.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/8103355.stm

[dkf]

1. WTH is with this?

The port of Djibouti is full to overflowing and the Ethiopian government has prioritised the delivery of fertiliser, to try to increase the next harvest.

But even when the grain gets through the WFP says there is an acute shortage of trucks, with the Ethiopian authorities preventing the agency from bringing in its own fleet from Sudan.

The UN says the Ethiopian authorities have exacerbated the situation by refusing it permission to use a fleet of trucks to transport the grain from Djibouti.

[Soylent Brice]

2. duh. there's only money for war, and "peace-keeping" troops.

what, you think food just grows on trees or something!?!?

[WriteDown]

3. I think the US should run out of dues for the UN.

That is all.

[lindisfarne]

4. That was the policy under the Bush administration. n/t

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. And the good news is: Ethopia's population is expected to double in the next 40 years

http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2006-03/Ethiopian-Population-Expected-To-Grow-by-More-than-100-Percent.cfm

when it already has a 'hunger season'.