London, 1 Sept-(ANA)-Gordon Brown returned to front-line politics yesterday, making an appeal for Britain to fund food aid to the landlocked African state of Niger where more than half the population face starvation.
In an article for The Independent, the former prime minister expressed frustration that the UK, US and other states have failed to contribute enough money to a United Nations appeal, leaving it $80m (£51m) short of target – and delivering little more than half the food needed.
While dramatic TV footage of the flooding in Pakistan has prompted governments to commit hundreds of millions to the aid effort there, the slowly worsening humanitarian crisis in Niger has been largely ignored by donors and the media. After a drought ruined much of last year's harvest, extending the annual "hunger season" from four to eight months, the rains have now come excessively, sweeping away homes, grain stores and livestock.(ANA)
Amnesty/Report