THE WORST MAY YET TO COME
New Malitu took her one year baby, Asnaku, to Derara Gorbie Health Post, where she was immediately admitted to an outpatient therapeutic programme, at the beginning of May Concluding his two-day visit to Ethiopia in mid-May 2012, John Ging, a United Nations humanitarian official, had kind words and rare praise for the administration of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. He admired the administration’s efforts in mitigating the impact of drought, comparing Ethiopia with the rest of the Horn of Africa. Ging even recommended the country’s experience in humanitarian emergency response beyond the region, for the drought ridden Sahel area. Nonetheless, a reading between the lines of his rather gracious remarks reveals deep concern over impending humanitarian crises, particularly in the southern part of Ethiopia. The operations director of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), a UN agency responsible for assessment of and response to natural disasters, is not