ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: African Development Bank gives US $1 million to help drought victimsADDIS ABABA, 4 Apr 2003 (IRIN) - The African Development Bank (ADB) on Thursday approved an aid package of US $1 million for Ethiopia and Eritrea to help them fight devastating drought.

"The bank group's assistance, to be shared equally by the two countries, will help strengthen the relief efforts currently underway," the bank said in a statement issued in Tunis. "The funds will be used exclusively for the procurement, transportation and distribution of cereals and pulses to the targeted population."

Aid agencies say that more than 11 million people face starvation in Ethiopia while some 70 percent of the 3.4 million population in Eritrea has been affected by drought.