8.2 million in need of USD 596 mln emergency assistance
Government and international aid agencies have announced that, due to the global natural hazard El Niño, which is lack of rainfall in both the spring (belg) and summer (meher or kiremt) seasons, the country has been hit by drought and, currently, about 8.2 million people are in need of immediate humanitarian assistance. According to Mitiku Kassa, secretary of the National Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Committee (NDPPC), the severity of the drought has been exacerbated by the delay and decline of rainfall during the major rainy season of kiremt from mid-June through mid-September. Hence, 8.2 million people are now in need of humanitarian assistance in which the government has disbursed USD 192 million, Mitiku noted. Yet, the total amount needed is over 596 million dollars according to the aid agencies and the government. Visiting severely stricken areas of the Oromia and Afar regions, Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn said that it is feared the drought will continue