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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider UN releases $100 mln to avert famine during pandemic

UN releases $100 mln to avert famine during pandemic

Published Nov 18, 2020 06:20 am

The United Nations said Tuesday it is releasing $100 million in aid for seven countries that include Ethiopia to help them avoid famine because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Ethiopia, where fighting has broken out between the central government and the northern Tigray region, will receive one fifth of this money.

The other recipients will be Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, South Sudan, and Yemen.

"No one should view a slide into famine as an inevitable side effect of this pandemic," said Mark Lowcock, UN under secretary general for humanitarian affairs.

"If it happens it is because the world has allowed it to happen. Famine can be prevented. But we have to act in time to make a difference," Lowcock said in a statement.

"Right now, more money for the aid operation is the quickest and most efficient way to support famine-prevention efforts."

On a planet where there is more than enough food for everyone, Lowcock wrote, "famines result in agonizing and humiliating deaths. They fuel conflict and war."

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