U.N. appeals for $87.3 million for Eritrean displaced

ASMARA, Eritrea (Reuters) -- The United Nations on Wednesday launched a fresh appeal for humanitarian aid worth $87.3 million for 1.1 million Eritreans displaced in the war with Ethiopia.

Eight U.N. agencies based in Eritrea said in a new report that the money was required for the war displaced while a further $13.4 million was needed to assist Eritreans affected by a drought ravaging the Greater Horn of Africa.

"Eritrea is facing a potentially catastrophic situation with large-scale population displacement and increasing impoverishment," the U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator in Eritrea Simon Nhongo said.

"This humanitarian appeal will help to meet the country's most critical humanitarian needs through the end of the year, but the disruption to agriculture and to the country's coping mechanisms means that Eritrea will need humanitarian assistance well into 2001," he said.

The U.N. initially appealed for $42 million in January to help 584,000 Eritreans then affected by the two-year-old border war with Ethiopia and drought. It says donors provided only about $16 million of that amount.

But the number of people requiring assistance escalated dramatically after fighting flared up between the two neighbors from May 12 until June 18 when hostilities ceased.

A comprehensive peace package is currently being negotiated to end the two-year-old border conflict under the auspices of the Organization of African Unity and the United Nations.

Ivo Freijsen of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Eritrea said urgent assistance was needed given the "magnitude and urgency with which the Eritrean humanitarian crisis is unfolding."

The assistance needed includes food, agricultural inputs, shelter and household items, water and sanitation, health and nutrition, education, protection of children and reintegration assistance.

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