UN falls short of billion-dollar pledge to tackle Ethiopia's hunger crisis

A UN donor conference held in Geneva had hoped to raise significant pledges towards a $1 billion target (€940 million) to address the "critical" humanitarian situation in Ethiopia over the next three months. However pledges fell short at €570 million.

More than 21 million people need urgent aid in Ethiopia, where a food crisis is deepening.

Organisers said ahead of the conference they did not expect to raise the full amount by Tuesday, but rather to begin closing the gap between needs and funding.

"We understand this is just the beginning, and we hope for continued and increased support throughout the year," UN Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Joyce Msuya said in a statement.

Twenty countries made new pledges, with Ethiopia's top donor – the United States – saying it had pledged an additional €145 million.

Britain, which co-hosted Tuesday's conference, pledged over €117 million, while the European Union said that with member states it had pledged more than €131 million.

Funding gap

Ethiopians are facing ongoing internal conflicts amid economic and climate shocks and an increasingly dire food and malnutrition crisis.

The UN has said over €3 billion is needed this year alone, including to assist some four million internally displaced people.

But before Tuesday's event, that rescue plan was less than 5 percent funded.

"The gap remains very wide ... We have really to act before it is too late," Shiferaw Teklemariam, commissioner of the Ethiopian Disaster Risk Management Commission, told reporters in Geneva before the start of the conference.

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