Over 1.7 million people in Eritrea will face severe food shortages this year and will need humanitarian relief assistance to survive. This is due to the severe drought the country faced during the 2003 season which according to the information from ACT members in Eritrea, has been the worst for the last 15 years. The crop assessment carried out by the government agency responsible for relief and humanitarian assistance, ERREC working with the UN and other International NGOs, established that the country was only able to produce 210,000 tons of food against the country’s consumption requirement of 612,000 tons. This means a food deficit of 402,000 tons for which the government has requested outside assistance. The recent border war with Ethiopia and the tension that still exists between the two countries continues to perpetuate the presence of IDPs, and deportees from Ethiopia. The country also has many people who have returned from Sudan but are still living in IDP camps and are all in need of relief assistance.

ACT Members, Lutheran World Federation/World Service-Eritrea Program (LWF/WS-Eritrea), Norwegian Church Aid (NCA), and Dutch Inter Church Aid (DIA) propose to respond to the problems of food shortages, water, shelter, restocking of livestock and also address the serious issue of HIV/AIDS in communities they are working in. DIA intends to continue to specifically address the needs of the Beja and Rachaida refugees from North Eastern Sudan. The assistance will include shelter materials, provision of non-food items and also basic health and educational facilities. DIA and NCA implement these programs through their local partner organizations as they do not implement directly themselves.

Project Completion Date:

LWF/WS – ER - 30 Sept 2004

DIA - 31 July 2004

NCA - 31 Dec 2004

Signed by:

Thor-Arne Prois, ACT Director

For full details of proposals and budgets, please click below to download a PDF file of the entire Appeal.

Eritrea - Relief & Rehabilitation - AFER41 (file size: 97 Kb)

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