May 29, 2023
3 mins read

Jaishankar greets Ethiopians on their National Day

India’s relations with Ethiopia have been traditionally close and friendly….reports Asian Lite News

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday extended wishes to the government and people of Ethiopia on the occasion of their National Day.

Taking to Twitter, he extended his greetings to his Ethiopian counterpart Demeke Mekonnen Hassen and said, “Warm greetings to DPM & FM @DemekeHasen and the Government & people of Ethiopia on their National Day.” “Our historical linkages strengthen our contemporary partnership,” Jaishankar added.

India’s relations with Ethiopia have been traditionally close and friendly.

Ethiopia values India’s grasp of African countries’ challenges, support for their economic progress, and sensitivity to their requirements.

Last year, External Affairs Minister Jaishankar met Ethiopian President Sahle-Work Zewde and discussed bilateral cooperation on education, health, investment, and many more between the two countries.

Food aid in Horn of Africa

The World Food Program (WFP) has appealed for $810 million over the next six months to scale up humanitarian assistance for millions of people in the Horn of Africa who are trapped in a hunger emergency.

WFP Regional Director for Eastern Africa Michael Dunford said on Wednesday that the funds will help the WFP keep life-saving assistance going and invest in long-term resilience in the Horn of Africa.

“Conflict, climate extremes and economic shocks: the Horn of Africa region is facing multiple crises simultaneously. After five consecutive failed rainy seasons, flooding has replaced drought, killing livestock, damaging farmland, and further shattering livelihoods,” he added in a statement issued in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.

The WFP warned that the Horn of Africa is lurching from crisis to crisis, adding that the longest drought in recorded history has given way to rains and flash flooding, Xinhua news agency reported.

“And now the outbreak of conflict in Sudan is forcing hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes,” Dunford said.

The WFP said that by the end of 2022, it was distributing food assistance to a record 4.7 million people in Somalia but in April, funding shortfalls forced it to reduce this to three million people.

It warned that without additional funds, further cuts will have to be made in emergency food assistance caseload in Somalia to just 1.8 million by July.

This, it said, means that almost three million people will not receive support despite their continuing needs.

According to the WFP, when the region’s long-awaited rains arrived in March, they should have brought some relief, but instead, flash flooding inundated homes and farmland, washed away livestock, and closed schools and health facilities, forcing more than 2,19,000 people from their homes in southern Somalia, where 22 people were also killed.

The WFP said the drought of the last three years has left more than 23 million people across parts of Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia facing severe hunger, with mortality and malnutrition rates remaining unacceptably high and consecutive failed harvests and high transport costs pushing food prices far beyond the reach of millions in the region.

Dunford said the WFP’s rapid expansion of life-saving assistance helped prevent famine in Somalia in 2022.

“But despite the emergency being far from over, funding shortfalls are already forcing us to reduce assistance to those who still desperately need it,” he added.

“Without sustainable funding for both emergency and climate adaptation solutions, the next climate crisis could bring the region back to the brink of famine.”

The UN agency said it will take years for the region to recover, and humanitarian assistance is a lifeline yet limited humanitarian resources are being stretched further still by the conflict in Sudan, which has sent more than 2,50,000 people fleeing into neighbouring countries such as Ethiopia and South Sudan, where food insecurity is already desperately high. (ANI/IANS)

ALSO READ: Jaishankar asserts elevating trade talks with Russian envoy

Previous Story

Stalin rides Bullet Train in Japan

Next Story

Pak govt rejects Imran’s talks offer

Latest from -Top News

Highway Protest Halts PoGB-China Trade

The protestors have called for exclusion of residents of Pakistan-occupied Gilgit Baltistan from income, sales and other federal taxes on products imported from China via Khunjerab Pass, Trade and travel between Pakistan-occupied

Dhaka’s Ruling Party Rejects Kolkata Link

Slamming the Yunus administration, the Awami League alleged that “the illegal usurper government is actively spreading these baseless rumours….reports Asian Lite News Bangladesh’s Awami League has rejected media reports that it opened

1.5M Afghans Forced Back in 2025

UN warned that these women and girls face significant threats upon their return to Afghanistan, including poverty, early marriage, violence, and unprecedented restrictions. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has warned that

How BRICS Break the West’s Grip

Harvansh Chawla pointed to the Ruble-Rupee trade arrangement between the two nations, saying it has streamlined transactions and lessened reliance on Western financial systems. The BRICS bloc is proving crucial in enabling
Go toTop

Don't Miss

India sends more relief material to quake-hit Syria

The material included rations & medicines from Government of India

Rahul Gandhi calls for ‘combined consciousness’

Making a call of empathy for each other, the Congress