Ethiopian children the first victims of a devastating drought
Unused railways in Ethiopia Johnny Haglund/Getty Images
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
The consequences of this drought are serious, especially for the inhabitants.
Families migrate to other regions of the country, some no longer have resources.
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About 600,000 no longer go to school.
Young girls are married off because their parents can no longer provide for them.
Gianfranco Rotigliano, the UNICEF representative in the country, summarizes the drama of the situation.
The schools are closing because the children are leaving, the teachers are leaving too.
600,000 children are no longer in school because of the drought, because families have moved [...] Girls spend half their day walking to fetch water.
Gianfranco Rotigliano, UNICEF representative in Ethiopia
A donor conference held in Geneva secured $1.39 billion on Tuesday April 26 to help the Horn of Africa fight the famine that threatens at least 20 million people this year, according to the UN.
This money will go to humanitarian and development projects in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, the United Nations said in a statement released in New York.
The current drought in the Horn of Africa "
is the worst in 40 years
", it is specified.
Because of the drought, "
a million people have already left their homes for lack of water or pasture, and at least three million head of cattle have died
", she added.
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Ethiopia
Food