- Title: CHAD: U.N. aid chief John Holmes visits drought-struck areas
- Date: 30th May 2010
- Summary: MAO, WESTERN CHAD (MAY, 25, 2010) (REUTERS) JOHN HOLMES, UNITED NATIONS UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS AND EMERGENCY RELIEF COORDINATOR, ENTERING NUTRITIONAL CENTRE AT MAO HOSPITAL
- Embargoed: 13th June 2010 22:24
- Keywords:
- Location: Chad
- Country: Chad
- Topics: International Relations,Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes
- Reuters ID: LVAC52T45BN9KZ0HZJCQLU84M3SO
- Aspect Ratio: 4:3
- Story Text: Relief efforts for two million people facing food shortages in Chad are suffering because donors are concentrating aid on neighbouring Niger, a United Nations agency warned on Tuesday (May 29).
''What I can do is to talk to donors and ask them to increase their support for these operations because the situation in this region of the country is serious and could become worse if we don't act on time," John Holmes, the United Nations top humanitarian official said in Mao in western Chad.
Holmes was visiting the Sahel region of West Africa to draw attention to the plight of an estimated 10 million people facing a food and nutritional crisis as a result of poor harvests caused by long dry spells in the mostly arid part of the continent.
The Sahel repeatedly falls prey to food shortages and often full-blown famines. Poor rains and infestations last year have slashed food production and the amount of fodder available for animals.
Many people in Chad have already used up their stores of grain, and men have been leaving northwestern regions to seek work elsewhere in the country to provide for their families.
UNICEF, the U.N.'s agency for children, has warned that over 100,000 children between six and 59 months old will need treatment for severe malnutrition. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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