$1.7 billion in new aid needed for drought-stricken nations.

• Position: Includes related article on African agricultural mismanagement

Some $1.7 billion in new commitments from donor countries must be obtained to meet the urgent needs of 20 nations in Africa most seriously affected by the "unprecedented crisis" which continues to plague that continent and shows little sign of abating.

Pledges already made should be confirmed, and commitments to cover existing deficits "must be forthcoming immediately" to ensure that aid could be provided in areas in which it is needed "in time to save the lives of the vast numbers of people who are now at imminent risk."

The Secretary-General has made a "special, unified appeal" for additional resources, based on a consolidated assessment of total needs.

This was the message to be brought to countries attending the Conference on the Emergency Situation in Africa, to be held in Geneva on 11 and 12 March. A 92-page document for review by the meeting, containing "country profiles," maps and statistics, portrays the deteriorating situations in the 20 designated countries (SG/CONF.2/1).

Countries listed

The countries named are: Angola, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cape Verde, Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Somalia, the Sudan, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The crisis in many parts of Africa, the report states, shows little sign of abating in the rear future, even if widespread drought conditions were to improve markedly during the next rainy season.

The emergency situation since mid-1984 has "sharply deteriorated." Population displacement has become alarming; some 30 million of 150 million persons living in drought-affected nations are categorized as "seriously affected", and 10 million of these have had to abandon their homes and lands in search of food, water and pasture. The special needs of the increasing number of refugees have to be considered in assistance measures formulated. Up to half of these are overcrowded in temporary shelters and large numbers have fled to urban areas, the report states.

Whenever possible, the report specifies, assistance should be "brought to people where they are, before they become destitute, in order that they may remain on their lands and withstand with the support of their families, without the trauma of moving from their homes to new environments." Such preventive support "is more humane and more cost-effective than resorting to supporting people in camps or in overcrowded urban settlements", the report states.

"Extraordinary...