U.N. food official says Horn of Africa aid response slow

ROME (Reuters) -- The international response to aid appeals for some 16 million malnourished people in the Horn of Africa has been slow and the crisis is far from over, the U.N. special envoy to the region said Tuesday.

Catherine Bertini, executive director of the World Food Program (WFP), said after a six-day visit to Kenya and Ethiopia that famine had been averted but people still were suffering because of the prolonged drought in the region.

"There is still a critical need. It is still a crisis for people in the region," she told Reuters in an interview at WFP's Rome headquarters. "The next few months are crucial to helping keep people alive."

MESSAGE BOARDS The role of the U.N. Horn of Africa

Bertini said those most at risk were farmers whose livestock had died from insufficient food and water.

"These people are much weaker and many of their animals have died," she said.

However, she said she believed the threat of starvation had receded.

"I don't believe that this (famine) is the case now as long as international aid continues to come in," she said.

Bertini said it was impossible to predict the harvest until "critically important" rains came in October.

"The U.N. will be doing an assessment in November in the region and after that time we'll be able to make a better prediction about what is required and on how well people have done with their own crops," she added.

Bertini said she was disappointed by the response of the international community to aid appeals and estimated that during her trip just 54 percent of aid needs had been met, with the bulk coming from just one country, the United States.

"It has been very slow," she said.

"Unfortunately for people in the region the appeal process went under way over the summer, and bureaucracy and disasters don't necessarily coincide in an effective way at all times."

Bertini has said that nearly one-third of the $130 million needed had yet to be raised.

She said that she did not believe that the international community was suffering from donor fatigue following a series of famines in Africa in recent years.

"I believe that every individual in this world, and therefore all governments that represent individuals, do not find it acceptable that a person could die for lack of food and water," she said.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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