Sweden gives UN $10.5m to fight effects of drought in Ethiopia

A 10.5 million dollar donation from Sweden's government will help provide new solutions to help vulnerable populations in drought-hit Ethiopia, the United Nations World Food Programme said on Monday.

In the statement, WFP praised Sweden as one of its "most resolute and committed partners".

“This contribution comes at a critical time when resources for resilience interventions are urgently needed,” said Joyce Luma, WFP Country director and representative in Ethiopia.

There are ten million people in Ethiopia currently suffering from one of the worst droughts in decades, WFP said.

“Thanks to our strong partnership with the government of Sweden, WFP will be able to continue supporting immediate humanitarian needs, while also working together to change lives,” Luma said.

Sweden's contribution will enable WFP to work with government and NGO partners to strengthen Ethiopia's logistics capacity and improve early warning, surveillance and beneficiary feedback systems, WFP said.

The project will also support the scaling-up of satellite index insurance for small-scale farmers and herders and promote livelihood and resilience-building among refugees and host communities - activities that are crucial to mitigate the effects of recurrent drought and food insecurity.

“We are happy to support this resilience programme, where WFP and their partners will work on small-scale irrigation, farming and improving access to markets and insurance,” said Annika Nordin Jayawardena, head of development cooperation at the Swedish Embassy.

“We believe WFP has a role to play both in humanitarian and long-term development cooperation to ensure a life of dignity for poor people,” she said.

WFP said it will also work in partnership with Mercy Corps and Farm Africa on the four-year resilience programme, led by the Ethiopian government's federal, regional and district level entities.

WFP is working with the Ethiopian government to get emergency aid to 3.7 million people in the Somali region but it urgently requires 73 million dollars through June to ensure constant supplies of food to those in need, the UN agency said.

Earlier this month, Sweden made a historic commitment of approximately 370 million dollars in flexible funds to WFP through 2021.

The contribution is the largest ever made by a donor within a WFP strategic partnership agreement, WFP said.

WFP assists some 80 million people in around 80 countries each year.