ADDIS ABABA, May 5 (Xinhua) -- The number of Ethiopians who are in need of emergency humanitarian assistance due to the ongoing drought has surpassed 7.7 million, an Ethiopian government official told Xinhua on Friday.
The Ethiopian government and its humanitarian partners in January officially launched the Humanitarian Requirements Document (HRD) for 2017, looking for 948 million U.S. dollars to reach out 5.6 million people with emergency food and non-food assistance.
Debebe Zewdie, public relations head of the Ethiopian National Disaster Risk Management Commission, said the number of Ethiopians who needs emergency humanitarian assistance has now increased to over 7.7 million.
Zewdie further asserted that more than 740 million dollars is currently needed to address the humanitarian requirements of citizens who are enduring difficult situations as a result of the drought that hits the southern and southeastern part of the East African country.
According to Zewdie, the increase is attributed to the negative weather conditions experienced in some parts of the country that failed main harvesting season.
Areas that experience the negative weather conditions together with severe water shortage are in Ethiopia's three dominant regions, namely Oromiya, Amhara, and SNNP regions, according to Zewdie.
Mitiku Kassa, commissioner of the National Disaster Risk Management Commission, previously told Xinhua that despite efforts made by the Ethiopian government in tackling the impacts of the existing drought, "the response from the global community is so slow."
The 2017 Humanitarian Requirements Document presents prioritized plans in water and sanitation (WASH), agriculture, relief food, nutrition, health, education, protection, and shelter and non-food items in the affected areas.
