8 September 2008
Addis Abeba — The United Nations World Food Programme on Friday announced that the Government of Germany has donated 5 million Euro (approximately 75 million ETB) to support the organization's efforts to combat malnutrition among hundreds of thousands of Ethiopian mothers and young children.
As a result of German generosity, some 300,000 pregnant women, nursing mothers and children under five years old suffering from moderate acute malnutrition will receive a three month supply of fortified rations to help them recover their health, said the world's largest humanitarian agency in a statement.
"This contribution is most welcome," WFP Country Director Mohamed Diab was quoted in the statement.
"It comes at an opportune moment, when the combined effects of drought and rising global food prices have placed all of our activities under stress, including our programmes to deal with malnutrition among mothers and their children." The contribution "underlines the strong commitment of the German Government and people to efforts to improve the health and well-being of the people of Ethiopia during a particularly difficult time" the statement cited German Chargé d' Affaires, Peter Fahrenholtz, as having echoed that view.
Some 737,000 Ethiopian mothers and children are enrolled in WFP's Targeted Supplementary Feeding programme (TSF), which is designed to address the problem of moderate acute malnutrition among pregnant women, nursing mothers and children under five, WFP said.
Every three months, beneficiaries receive 25 kg of blended food fortified with 23 vitamins, minerals and other micronutrients and three litres of vegetable oil fortified with vitamins A and D, it added.
At the same time, they are given instruction in basic nutrition, learning about correct food proportions, proper breast feeding practices, the necessity of providing supplementary food to young children and other key facets of a healthy diet.
The aim of the programme is two-fold: to rehabilitate mothers and children suffering from malnutrition while providing an education in basic nutrition that the women will then share with the rest of the community.
The agency said, in 2008, the TSF programme will supply beneficiaries in Ethiopia with 66,000 metric tons of food commodities, valued at US$68 million.
"Before the German contribution, the programme was short 9,000 metric tons, valued at US$ 9 million"
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The Democratic Republic of Germany was one of the major supporters of the military junta. Germans have literally blood on their hands for millions perished during Mengistu's ruthless regime. As the Federal Republic of Germany has taken over the former DDR,( including its liablities) it better come up with serious money and not a paltry 5 million euros for Germany as the third largest economy in the World and the largest exporter ,to the tune of over a trillion dollars, can and must assist Ethiopia in more ways than this. Given that Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany, is from the former East Germany, the Ethiopian govt better pursue the matter of reparation for the crimes of the DDR against the People of Ethiopia by training security forces and others who were responsbile for attrocities. I am sure it will have a sympathetic ears for the visits of the former DDR President to Ethiopia alone were numerous making it obvious how important the strategic relationship between Ethiopia and DDR were. If Germans think that they can get away with such a trivial aid they will have surprise coming sooner than they expect. Crimes against Humanity don't have statue of limitation.