PANAPRESS
Panafrican News Agency
French Agric Minister, in Kenya, to discuss famine in Horn of Africa
Paris, France (PANA) - The French Minister of Agriculture, Bruno Le Maire, will Saturday pay a two-day visit to Kenya, during which he will assess the needs of the people in the Horn of Africa affected by severe famine, he wrote in an article published Thursday in the daily Le Monde.
Le Marie will carry out the exercise along with the Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), Josette Sheeran, and the European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Kristalina Georgieva.
"Famine in the Horn of Africa prompts us to implement the Emergency Action Plan adopted 23 June in Paris by the agriculture ministers of the G-20. It also requires that we further strengthen the proposed devices and test their effectiveness," he stated.
He also disclosed that he would go to Rome, Italy, on Monday, to attend the extraordinary conference convened by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on famine in the Horn of Africa.
"We called for an extraordinary meeting of the FAO on the famine in the Horn, FAO Director General Jacques Diouf has heard our call. On this occasion, we want to mobilize all contributions. On Monday, 25 July, I will go to Rome to collect, with my colleagues, the support made available to face the crisis,” the minister said.
Nearly 12 million people are threatened by famine in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Djibouti and Somalia, where the food crisis has been exacerbated by civil war.
The United Nations has declared Wednesday "state of famine" in southern Somalia, while calling for exceptional emergency assistance throughout the Horn of Africa.
-0- PANA SEI/JSG/JEN/BOS 21July2011
Le Marie will carry out the exercise along with the Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), Josette Sheeran, and the European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Kristalina Georgieva.
"Famine in the Horn of Africa prompts us to implement the Emergency Action Plan adopted 23 June in Paris by the agriculture ministers of the G-20. It also requires that we further strengthen the proposed devices and test their effectiveness," he stated.
He also disclosed that he would go to Rome, Italy, on Monday, to attend the extraordinary conference convened by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on famine in the Horn of Africa.
"We called for an extraordinary meeting of the FAO on the famine in the Horn, FAO Director General Jacques Diouf has heard our call. On this occasion, we want to mobilize all contributions. On Monday, 25 July, I will go to Rome to collect, with my colleagues, the support made available to face the crisis,” the minister said.
Nearly 12 million people are threatened by famine in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Djibouti and Somalia, where the food crisis has been exacerbated by civil war.
The United Nations has declared Wednesday "state of famine" in southern Somalia, while calling for exceptional emergency assistance throughout the Horn of Africa.
-0- PANA SEI/JSG/JEN/BOS 21July2011
