UN Warns of Humanitarian Crisis in Ethiopia's Somali Region (Political Affairs)

“We will see a major crisis develop in the next month unless there is a resumption of livestock trade and export, commercial and humanitarian food distribution, urgent healthcare, and access by government service providers and humanitarian
partners,” stated Paul Hebert, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Ethiopia, in a report issued on 5 October. Hebert led a mission to the Somali region between 30 August and 5 September.

Meanwhile, legislative moves in the United States to cut aid to Ethiopia are unlikely to have a dramatic impact on its internal policies, an analyst with a leading think-tank said.

"It is going to have some limited effect," Tom Cargill of Chatham House said of the Ethiopia Democracy and Accountability Act, which has been passed by the House of Representatives but has yet to be approved by the Senate or President George W Bush.

"It is symbolically important because it shows there is a range of views in the US about Ethiopia, but we should not read too much or too little into it." ...more