By Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS, 25 May 2023 (IDN) — At a UN sponsored high-level meeting, donors collectively pledged about $2.4 billion in “life-saving and life-sustaining assistance” to nearly 32 million people across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia plagued by five consecutive poor rainy seasons.

But the pledges—from 28 donors out of the 193 UN member states—fell far short of the $7.0 billion needed to rescue the countries devastated mostly by droughts.