Dubai: Dubai Cares, a charitable establishment that aims to provide access to primary education in developing countries, on Tuesday announced its partnership with Save the Children to provide lifesaving assistance to women and children affected by the growing food crisis in Ethiopia.

The Ethiopia initiative marks an expansion in the scope of an existing partnership between Dubai Cares and Save the Children, which was announced in April and has, to date, supported primary education programmes in Sudan and Yemen.

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.

Dubai Cares' support 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 5 in these regions. The programme will also reach 21,600 pregnant or lactating mothers.

Reem Al Hashmi, 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.''