UK donates £90 million for humanitarian support to save lives in Ethiopia and Somalia

United Kingdom International Development Secretary Priti Patel has called for a new concerted global push to prevent millions of people losing their lives across East Africa to the threat of starvation and disease. Photo grabbed from Reuters video file.
United Kingdom International Development Secretary Priti Patel has called for a new concerted global push to prevent millions of people losing their lives across East Africa to the threat of starvation and disease. Photo grabbed from Reuters video file.

SOMALI REGIONAL ESTATE, Ethiopia (Reuters) – United Kingdom International Development Secretary Priti Patel has called for a new concerted global push to prevent millions of people losing their lives across East Africa to the threat of starvation and disease.

Patel warned that the crisis had reached a critical point and that a loss of momentum in the international response could rapidly reverse the progress made, cost lives and further destabilise the already fragile region.

Patel announced a £90 million package of urgently needed support which will help more than 2 million people in desperate need of clean water, food, and basic medical supplies in Somalia and Ethiopia. This includes £60 million in new funding for Somalia, and a £30 million allocation for Ethiopia.

In 2016, the Ethiopian Government put forward more than $700 million to meet the needs of their own people to mitigate drought and its effects. Patel said the UK was working with the government to ensure they respond effectively this year, to prioritise, plan effectively and step up their own finance for the response.

In Somalia – a country plagued by militant Islamist attacks where millions have fled their homes, Britain’s help is not only to help people survive but give them a choice about their lives and their futures, so they aren’t forced to turn to extremism or make the dangerous journey to Europe.