President’s Trip to Africa: A Good Start, but CRS Cautions Work Needed to Really Address Chronic NeedsCatholic Relief Services Agency's TV Ad Highlights Hunger Crisis In Ethiopia Catholic Relief Services (CRS) today applauded President Bush for his efforts addressing key African issues during this week's trip around the continent, yet noted many grave and urgent needs remain, particularly in Ethiopia, where more than 12 million people face the threat of starvation. CRS has taken out a paid television advertisement calling for increased assistance to help Ethiopians meet immediate needs and develop long-term solutions to break free of chronic poverty and cyclical famine.  The CRS ad, which will air during this Sunday's news roundtable shows on ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC in the Washington, DC area, states: "In recent weeks, we've seen our government help African nations work toward self-sufficiency. But many are too weak to make much progress. As you watch this, starvation is threatening the lives of more than 12 million Ethiopians. Providing food now will prevent the famine. Providing the tools to create self-sufficiency will keep it from coming back. Leadership in Washington and Africa can save lives now — and help millions to help themselves."* In a separate statement, CRS' Country Representative for Ethiopia, Anne Bousquet, noted that, "The United States has played a significant role in, thus far, helping to prevent a catastrophic famine in Ethiopia. However, millions of people in Ethiopia are surviving solely on the food provided by the Government of Ethiopia, international aid agencies and the international donor community, while critical rains remain sporadic, and medium-to long-term aid is still desperately needed." "Ethiopia needs help not only to respond to famine, but also to prevent it," Bousquet said. "That will require policy reform and investment in long-term development, particularly in the areas of water and agriculture." The U.S. government has pledged approximately $475 million in emergency aid this year, more than half of the entire food needs for Ethiopia. However, less than $5 million has been provided for agricultural development in the country. Bousquet stated that the agency is pleased with the Bush Administration's recent AIDS initiative, as well as its commitment to development assistance through the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA). "But the MCA," she noted, "is geared toward higher-performing nations. There needs to be an improved plan that ensures needy countries like Ethiopia, which with more development assistance could lift themselves out of poverty, are not left behind." Chronic poverty, lack of infrastructure and a series of droughts have created conditions similar to the 1984 famine in which nearly one million Ethiopians died. Nutritional surveys conducted in the affected regions identify growing acute malnutrition, requiring increased resources for therapeutic and targeted supplementary feeding. The current food emergency is rapidly transforming into a more complex health crisis, with malaria, pneumonia, measles and dysentery widespread among people affected by the food crisis. CRS is the lead agency in a consortium of private voluntary organizations—known as the Joint Emergency Operational Plan and including CARE, Food for the Hungry, Save the Children (USA), Relief Society of Tigray and World Vision—that is reaching 4.5 million of the 12.5 million people in need across Ethiopia. CRS is also distributing locally purchased supplementary food to selected vulnerable communities and providing basic medicine, water rehabilitation and seed distribution to help communities recover from the current crisis. Bousquet noted that CRS is only one of the organizations committed to averting famine in Ethiopia. In December, executives of American humanitarian relief organizations, the United Nations World Food Program and the U.S. Agency for International Development gathered in Baltimore to launch a coordinated global campaign to assist people at risk of starvation in Africa. The groups called for a "massive and urgent" response and also called upon governments in food insecure countries, donor governments and the entire international development community to take the necessary steps to avert future crises of this nature. Catholic Relief Services is marking its 60th year as the official international humanitarian agency of the U.S. Catholic community. The agency provides assistance to people in more than 90 countries and territories on the basis of need, not race, creed or nationality. To contribute to Catholic Relief Services efforts, send donations to: Catholic Relief Services
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