Eritrea: nation's recovery depends on aid

The Eritrean Relief and Refugee commission has launched an appeal for two-hundred-and-twenty-three-million dollars in humanitarian aid to support recovery, following years of war with Ethiopia.

Around half the population is said to be in need of assistance due to the combined effects of drought and conflict.

Most of the aid is needed to meet food shortages and to help resettle the hundreds of thousands of Eritreans who were displaced by the war and are still living in refugee camps. The BBC correspondent in Asmara says emergency aid, which was forthcoming during the conflict, helped secure the nation's survival.

But now that peace has come, Eritrea is struggling to meet the challenge of recovery.

Earlier this week Ethiopian troops began withdrawing from Eritrea, in line with the peace agreement signed by the two countries last year.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service