新奇事件簿 干旱侵袭埃塞俄比亚（在线收听）

International charities have issued a stark warning about a looming humanitarian catastrophe in Ethiopia. The North African country has been hit by its worst drought for 50 years. It is widely expected that emergency food aid for 10 million Ethiopians will run out unless more funds can be found. John Graham, the head of the charity Save the Children in Ethiopia, said: "The international community has just three weeks to provide $245 million in emergency food aid to help prevent a potentially catastrophic escalation in severe malnutrition cases." He added that: "If these emergency funds do not arrive in time, there is no question that there will be a critical fracture in the food aid supply pipeline."

埃塞俄比亚“人道主义危机”日益严重，国际各慈善组织发出强烈警告。非洲北部地区遭受50年来最严重干旱。人们普遍认为若无资金援助，一千万埃民的紧急食物资助恐将耗尽。救助儿童组织主任约翰·格雷厄姆认为：“为了防止营养不良事件一发不可收拾，价值2.45亿美元的食物援助时间还有三周。”他还表示：“若救援资金不能及时到位，食物援助链就将断裂，这毫无疑问。”

Ethiopia is Africa’s second most populous country. It is no stranger to natural disasters of this kind. Famine killed over one million Ethiopians in 1984. The latest drought was brought on by the El Nino weather phenomenon, which has caused drought and flooding across much of Africa. Ethiopia is one of the countries hardest hit. Charities say that over 400,000 Ethiopian children under the age of five will suffer from severe malnutrition this year. In addition, 1.7 million under-fives, pregnant women and breast-feeding mothers will need treatment for malnutrition. Mr Graham warned that, "the window for action is rapidly closing" as it can take four months to buy food aid and transport it into the landlocked country.

埃塞俄比亚是非洲第二大人口大国。像干旱等自然灾害屡见不鲜。1984年，饥荒致一百多万人死亡。近期发生的干旱灾害因厄尔尼诺现象发起，非洲大部分地区遭干旱洪水肆虐。埃塞俄比亚灾情最为严重。据慈善组织表示，因严重营养不良，5岁以下受影响儿童人数今年将达40万人。此外，1700万5岁以下儿童，怀孕妇女以及哺乳期妇女因营养不良需要救治。格雷厄姆警告称，就采购食品物资，向内陆国家转移灾民的时间为4个月，我们的时间不多了。