Musician Bob Geldof was starting a five-day trip to Ethiopia today to again highlight the plight of millions of people facing starvation in the African country.
Figures from the UN children's aid agency, Unicef, suggest Ethiopia is in the middle of a humanitarian emergency, with 14 million people, many of them children, dependent on food aid.
Sir Bob's five-day mission is timed to raise public interest ahead of the G8 summit of the main industrialised nations in Evian, France, on June 1st to kick-start action from political leaders.
Geldof, whose first visit to Ethiopia almost 20 years ago inspired Band Aid and Live Aid, said before he left Britain: "The G8 meeting is next week and I think it is going to be somewhat characterised by political spite and backbiting over what has happened in Iraq.
"But meanwhile, further south is another country which is facing an utter catastrophe this summer because it has failed to receive over two-thirds of the food requirements that have been promised."
He said he recognised the US and British governments were at the forefront of helping to improve the situation in Africa but that it was wrong to make the fight on terrorism a priority. "If there is a war on terror then there has to be a war on poverty," he said.
Geldof's visit will see him go to therapeutic feeding centres in the south and projects aimed at making water safe to drink.
His trip comes days after a Live-Aid style concert was held in Addis Ababa for thousands of Ethiopians to raise money for their country.
PA