This is a summary of what was said by the UNHCR spokesperson at today's press briefing at the Palais des Nations. Quoted text from this briefing note may be attributed to the UNHCR spokesperson named below left
Ron Redmond

1. North Caucasus

The first UNHCR convoy carrying UN humanitarian aid to Chechnya should be arriving in Grozny by 2 p.m. this afternoon local time - that's midday here in Geneva. The 10-truck convoy, which is carrying 45 tons of food and other supplies, left UNHCR's base of operations in

Background
The Horn of Africa is currently facing a humanitarian crisis of serious proportions. An estimated 15 million persons in the region are at risk of severe food shortages. Drought is the primary cause for the current food crisis in the Horn of Africa. Factors underlying the crisis include the cumulative effects of poor and unreliable rainfall and other shocks which have eroded assets and coping strategies over recent years. The worst drought-affected populations are pastoralists in southern and eastern Ethiopia, Somalia, and northern Kenya.

Highlights of the Noon Briefing
By Fred Eckhard
Spokesman for the Secretary-General
UN Headquarters, New York
This Friday, the World Food Programme (WFP) will launch a nine-month emergency operation at a cost of $136.8 million dollars for food and non-food items, as well as logistics, to feed 2.3 million of the most vulnerable victims of drought and crop failure in Ethiopia. The emergency operation is part of the overall UN country team appeal for $190.7 million, issued on January 28. The number of vulnerable

Westport, CT - An assessment team from Save the Children is voicing extreme concern over a dramatically deteriorating situation for children and families in Ethiopia. A persistent drought, resulting in widespread hunger, is evoking images of the devastating famine that ravaged the country in 1984-1985. Estimates are that upwards of 8 million people could be affected by the dire situation brought about by an almost complete lack of rainfall in many parts of the country.
Responding to the Government of Ethiopia's appeal for humanitarian assistance, Save the Children's assessment team

An estimated 8 million Ethiopians and 3 million Kenyans may starve to death because of a famine resulting from drought that brought crop failures and livestock losses. It is also estimated that 250,000 additional refugees fleeing conflicts in neighboring countries will face starvation unless help comes.
This will be the third crop in a row that people in these regions have lost to either flooding or drought.

Food for the Hungry (FH) is gearing up for famine relief programs. Funds already have been provided to purchase

General Situation
The Ethiopian government, which has been in power since the end of the civil war in 1991, continues its battle against the underdevelopment and extreme poverty that have beset the country in recent decades.

Armed opposition groups are still active in certain areas, primarily the Somali National Regional State and the southern lowlands, but on a minor scale compared with previous years. The most serious threat to Ethiopia's peace and stability came from the international conflict that erupted over a border dispute with Eritrea in May 1998.

NAIROBI, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Ten gunmen riddled a vehicle belonging to the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres with bullets in eastern Ethiopia, killing one person and wounding two, the agency said on Wednesday.
The vehicle's Ethiopian driver was killed instantly in Monday's attack. A French worker was shot twice and has been airlifted to hospital in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, MSF spokeswoman Olivia Verkade said.

"There were 20 bullet holes in the car," she told Reuters. "The expatriate was shot in the chest.