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JOINT MEDIA ADVISORY
UN Food Agencies’ chiefs to visit drought-hit Ethiopia
Visit to highlight hunger crisis, need for greater investments in resilience
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30 August 2017, Rome/Addis Ababa –
The heads of the three UN food agencies will visit Ethiopia to highlight the critical food and nutrition security situation. Consecutive climate
shocks have resulted in back-to-back droughts, which have caused hunger to soar and malnutrition rates to rise to alarming levels. The agency chiefs will discuss how best to strengthen their support to the Government and its systems so that Ethiopia can continue
meeting its development goals while simultaneously addressing humanitarian challenges along the way.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)’s Director-General José Graziano da Silva, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)’s President
Gilbert F. Houngbo and the World Food Programme (WFP)’s Executive Director David Beasley will be in Ethiopia from 1-4 September.
In the worst-affected parts of the country, in the south and south-east, rains have failed for the third consecutive year. More than 8.5 million people require
food assistance in the second half of 2017. The response led by the Government has begun to stabilize the situation, however additional efforts and support is urgently needed to prevent the situation deteriorating further.
The agency heads will witness first-hand the scale of the crisis during a field mission to Somali region where the drought has killed many heads of livestock,
causing a breakdown in pastoral livelihoods and a jump in malnutrition.
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WFP: @WFP | @WFPChief | @WFP_Africa
FOR MORE INFORMATION
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IFAD
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The trio will meet drought-affected people who are receiving food rations, visit nutrition centres treating malnourished children and see distributions of essential support to keep the remaining
livestock alive.
The current food security and nutrition crisis cannot be resolved by emergency assistance alone. The longer-term solution lies in building communities’ resilience to better withstand shocks and
avoid being plunged back into crisis. In Tigray region, the agency chiefs will see the dividends of investing in resilience. They will visit communities where the agencies’ complementary projects have boosted productivity, strengthened livelihoods and improved
nutrition.
In Addis Ababa, the three representatives will hold high-level discussions with Government representatives, and UN and other partner organizations, on the life-saving response and the need for greater
collaboration and investment in resilience.
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Press Briefing
Journalists are invited to attend a press briefing to be held at the conclusion of the visit.
Where: Sheraton Hotel, Addis Ababa
When:
Monday 4 September, Time: 1700
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