Visit of the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator to Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa Region

Ms. Carolyn McAskie, Emergency Relief Coordinator a.i. of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), will visit Ethiopia from 10 to 11 July. Her stay in Ethiopia is part of a journey to three drought affected countries in the Horn of Africa, the others being Eritrea and Kenya, which she visited prior to Ethiopia.
The principal purpose of Ms. McAskie's visit is to further understand the situation of the population affected by the drought and the internally displaced persons (IDPs), as well as to review coordination arrangements to address their needs. The visit also aims at heightening the attention of the international community to the humanitarian situation in the region and at promoting an enhanced response to the UN Appeal.

While in Ethiopia, Ms. McAskie makes a field trip to the drought affected Somali Region. In Gode town she will visit the hospital, therapeutic and supplementary feeding centers, and will meet regional officials and members of the UN Country Team on the ground. She will then proceed to Imi, where she will see the effects of displacement caused by drought and examine some of the specific ways in which the Government, the UN, donors and NGOs are helping to mitigate the impact on the IDPs.

After her return to Addis Ababa in the evening of 10 July, the Emergency Relief Coordinator is scheduled to meet with Ethiopian Government officials including the Commissioner of the Ethiopian Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Commission (DPPC), donors, the United Nations Regional Humanitarian Coordinator, the UN Country Team in Addis Ababa, and NGOs before departing to Bujumbura, Burundi.

For more information please contact:
Caroline Stiebler, Public Information Officer
Tel.: (251) (1) 44-44-11

UN Emergencies Unit for Ethiopia
PO Box 60252
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Tel.: (251) (1) 51-10-28/29
Fax: (251) (1) 51-12-92
E-mail: undp-eue@telecom.net.et