Top UN aid official sounds warning on Ethiopia - AFP - September 1, 2008

The top UN aid official John Holmes on Monday called for greater international efforts to help millions of Ethiopians suffering from a severe drought.

Some eight million people need urgent food relief and another 4.6 million need emergency assistance, according to the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

"The response has been good in some ways, but we have a long way to go," said Holmes on his way to a southern Ethiopian region devastated by the drought.

The lack of rain in the main February to April wet season has left at least 75,000 Ethiopian children under age five at risk from malnutrition, OCHA said. Read More.