NAIROBI, 23 July 2008 (IRIN) - "The situation of the urban poor has worsened, they are now getting more vulnerable; it is no longer just the old caseload of drought-affected people; the urban poor need assistance as they continue to be adversely affected by rising food prices," Peter Smerdon, a senior public affairs officer for the UN World Food Programme (WFP), told reporters in Nairobi on 22 July.
Smerdon, one of five UN officials and one from Care International who had called the press conference to highlight the food crisis, said WFP and other aid agencies were "pulling out all the stops" to prevent hunger from spiralling out of control in the region.
Besida Tonwe, head of the regional office of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said the urban poor were among those at greatest risk.
"Some 20 million people live in slums across the Horn of Africa," she said. "They are at the mercy of huge fluctuations in the price of basic family food that strip their purchasing power and deplete their savings."
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