PARIS (AP) — France’s government says it is tripling aid to nations in the Horn of Africa to euro30 million ($43 million) as famine there affects millions of people.
French government spokeswoman Valerie Pecresse announced Monday after a Cabinet meeting that President Nicolas Sarkozy ordered a rise in French aid for the region from euro10 million to euro30 million.
Drought and the famine it has caused in Somalia have affected more than 11.5 million people in the Horn of Africa. Aid agencies have limited reach in Somalia, where Islamist militants are waging an insurgency against the country’s weak U.N.-backed government.
The World Food Program said last week that it has a funding shortfall of $252 million for famine relief efforts in the Horn of Africa.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.