Governments fall short in UN’s East Africa drought appeal.  Donor countries promised only a third of the $7bn the UN was appealing for to provide humanitarian aid to drought-stricken Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia.   26/05/2023      A United Nations fundraiser for aid operations in the drought-stricken Horn of Africa has fallen short as donor countries pledged only a third of the $7 billion sought. The UN warned against a “catastrophe” in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, which it described as the epicentre of the world’s worst climate emergencies. Donor countries have pledged a total of $2.4 billion for 2023, but only $0.8 billion in new financial support was announced at this week’s event. The US will provide nearly two-thirds of the money, followed at some distance by the European Commission, Germany and the UK. The money raised at a pledging conference this week will help humanitarian agencies provide food, water, healthcare and protection services to over 30 million people across the three countries.  The Horn of Africa has been suffering its worst drought in 40 years since October 2020. Five consecutive seasons of rainfall below normal levels have led to crops failing and farm animals dying. A group of scientists estimated that human-driven climate change has made these events “much stronger” and “about 100 times more likely”.The World Weather Attribution group said the drought was made much more severe because of the low rainfall and increased evaporation caused by higher temperatures in the world. Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia combined now contribute less than 0.5% of the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change despite having 2.5% of the world’s population.        https://climatechangenews.com/2023/05/26/governments-fall-short-in-uns-east-africa-drought-appeal/