Famine victims in Horn of Africa - Paris, the French capital, is to give an emergency aid of 200,000 euros to assist the victims of famine of the Horn of Africa, according to a statement obtained by PANA here Thursday. The aid, to be managed by the NGO Action against Hunger (ACF) and Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development (ACTED), will be used to provide water supply and basic foodstuffs in southern Somalia and northern Kenya.

The French capital has also decided to support the call made by various agencies, including UNICEF, Care France, the French Red Cross, Medecins du Monde, Doctors Without Borders and Catholic Relief Services to raise funds for populations in the Horn of Africa.

'The ads on the display boards of the City of Paris and the website 'paris.fr' will relay the call for donations to Parisians. Besides, the city of Paris will highlight the UNICEF global campaign for the East on the municipal display network,' the statement said.

Nearly 12 million people in the Horn of Africa, which extends from Djibouti to Kenya through Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea and Uganda, are threatened by a severe famine caused by drought and crop failure.

Of these countries, Somalia which already faces a civil war, is the most badly hit.

An extraordinary meeting of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), held last Monday in Rome, failed to raise the funds requested by aid agencies to assist the victims of what is being described as one of the worst famines in Africa over the last 25 years.

Pana 28/07/2011