Overseas Development Administration
13 November 1984
Eland House Stag Place London SW1E 5DH
Press Office 01-213 4909
BRITISH GOVERNMENT'S RESPONSE TO FAMINE IN ETHIOPIA
The British Government has responded swiftly to the urgent need for further
humanitarian assistance to help the victims of famine in Ethiopia.
On 24 October Sir Geoffrey Howe, Secretary of State for Foreign and
Commonwealth Affairs, told the House of Commons that the Government pledged an
extra £5 million for drought-affected areas in Africa, including Ethiopia, and
6,500 tonnes of food aid for people facing starvation in Ethiopia. The funds
will come from the aid programme's contingency reserve, which exists for crises
such as this; they will not be deducted from existing programmes.
On 30 October Mr Timothy Raison, Minister for Overseas Development announced in the House of Commons that the Ethiopian Government had accepted the British
Government's offer of a Royal Air Force detachment of two Hercules aircraft for
three months to carry out relief operations within the Ethiopian famine areas.
These RAF aircraft left for Ethiopia on 1 November and have commenced operations.
Two other aircraft chartered by the Government and carrying emergency supplies for the Disasters Emergency Committee arrived in Ethiopia on 3 November.
Among the uses to which the British offer of £5 million will be put are the supply of dump trucks to help with unloading at the port of Assab,
Landrovers and spare parts to help with internal distribution, water drilling rigs, medical requirements, and the shipment of relief supplies to Ethiopia.
This is over and above British assistance to Ethiopia during the past two
years which has included disaster relief and bilateral food aid (19,000 tonnes in 1983; 20,000 tonnes in 1984) as well as food aid and emergency financial assistance from the European Community. The total cost to the British aid programme had been nearly £13 million (£7.8 million through the EC, £3.7 million bilateral food aid, £1.2 million disaster relief) before the additional aid announced on
24 October. Much of this aid, both bilateral and through the Community, has
been given in close cooperation with voluntary agencies.
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