A LEADING Catholic aid agency has expressed fears that Ethiopia and Eritrea could be running out of time to save millions of people from starving to death.
The American govern
ment's Famine Early Warning System said that food supplies in the region could dry up within a month affecting some 13 million people in both countries.
Siggy Jannssen, from the joint Cafod/Trocaire office in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, said she was deeply worried by a recent trip to a health clinic treating malnourished babies in one of the affected regions. The clinic is situated in the north of the country, above Mekele; an area which has been badly hit by the drought.
She said: "It was very harsh seeing the effects that the food crisis is already having in the country. I saw one two-year-old, who weighed only two kilos, after receiving food from the clinic for a month; she was smiling forithe first time, It was all the more shocking as I have an 18-month-old son who weighs 13 kilos."
In Eritrea, Cafod partner, Abba Uqbagaber, has warned that his country is heading towards devastation not seen since the 1984/85 famine.