A ticking time bomb.

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Dubai Cares, a charity aiming to provide access to primary education in developing countries for one million children, is to join with Save the Children to provide life-saving assistance to women and children affected by the growing food crisis in Ethiopia.Aa The Ethiopia initiative marks the expansion of an existing partnership between the two charities that was announced in April and has already supported primary education programmes in Sudan and Yemen.Aa Dubai Cares is partnering with Save the Children to initiate emergency nutrition programmes to aid tens of thousands of malnourished Ethiopian children and women in drought-ridden regions, specifically the Southern Nations and Nationalities Peoples Region, Oromiya and Somalia Regional State.Oxfam, the international aid organisation, says Ethiopia is currently facing what it calls a "toxic cocktail" of drought, high food prices, delivery problems and plagues.The UK-based charity says Ethiopia, one of the world's hungriest nations, has seen a drought kill the entire spring crop in some areas and global inflation double the price of food.In addition, armed rebellion in the Somali region has disrupted food delivery and assorted plagues from insects to hailstones have hit the country.

Since 1985, Ethiopia's population has doubled to almost 80 million while per-capita farm production has declined leading to one famine expert to term Ethiopia's problems asAa "a ticking time bomb".The support of Dubai Cares, which was announced yesterday, will help enable Save the Children to provide key health and nutrition aid through its innovative community-based therapeutic care (CTC) sites. By establishing eight CTCs, Save the Children will reach nearly 26,000 moderately malnourished children and 4,900 severely malnourished children under the age of five in these regions. The programme will also reach 21,600 pregnant or breast-feeding mothers.Reem Al Hashimy, UAE Minister of State and chairperson of Dubai Cares board of directors, said: "We are committed to providing emergency relief to the people of Ethiopia during this time of great need. The escalating food crisis triggered by a growing drought and rising food prices has put large numbers of Ethiopian children and their families at risk."Margaret Schuler, Save the Children's country director in Ethiopia, added: "This partnership with Dubai Cares is significant. It will allow Save the Children to access critically needed food commodities to support the needs of thousands of children in Ethiopia who are the most dramatically impacted by the current food crisis. We greatly appreciate the support."Aa Dubai Cares has positioned itself as a strategic coordinator actively engaged with international aid agencies to develop primary education programmes and to ensure immediate impact on the ground. It is the largest charitable establishment solely devoted to improving primary education in the world.Dubai Cares has prioritised its phase one grants to countries that demonstrate the highest gap in primary education. Earlier this year, it announced 12 beneficiary countries including Bangladesh, Bosnia, Chad, Comoros Islands, Djibouti, Maldives, Mauritania, Niger, Pakistan, Occupied Palestinian Territories, Sudan and Yemen, as well as Palestinian refugees (in Lebanon and Jordan).Save the Children is the leading independent organisation creating lasting change for children in the United States and around the world. For more than 75 years, Save the Children has been helping children survive and thrive by improving their health, education and economic opportunities and, in times of acute crisis, mobilising lifesaving assistance to help children recover from the effects of war, conflict and natural disasters.Dubai Cares, set up by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai last year raised dhs1.7 billion during an eight-week drive to raise funds for the needy across the world.Sheikh Mohammed then doubled the amount raised, allowing dhs3.4 billion to be donated.

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