ReliefWeb

Addis Ababa, 25 August 2011 –African Union (AU) leaders gathered at the first ever AU Pledging Conference and made pledges of more than US$350 million dollars toward the relief effort assisting the millions of people in crisis due to the extreme drought and famine conditions in the Horn of Africa.Chairperson of the AU Commission, Dr.Jean Ping, noted “this is no time for rhetoric but concrete action through the announcement of redeemable pledges that build concerted action by Africa against hunger on the continent.”

The funding needs to address the humanitarian crisis in the Horn of Africa has been put at US$2.48 billion of which $1 billion has been committed so far.The Horn of Africa is experiencing the most severe drought of the past 60 years, affecting 12.5 million people, including hundreds of thousands in Somalia, parts of which have fallen into famine. The contributions will go far in bridging the more than US$1 billion gap in funding. An additional $28 million of ‘in kind’ donations, such as food, medicines, and other forms of assistance was also pledged.