We need your help.
The Horn of Africa is experiencing the most severe food crisis in the world today. The failure of two consecutive rainy seasons in the region has led to one of the worst droughts seen in our lifetime.
Crops have withered, livestock have perished and families are left starving. Leading to a domino effect of increased prices and inflation, with Kenya recording 14% inflation, the highest in two years, which is expected to increase further. Overall food security conditions across pastoral and marginal agricultural areas will continue to deteriorate in the coming 3 to 4 months, with expectation of late and below-average summer harvests, early depletion of pasture and water, and continued high prices of food, water and fuel. Decades of conflict and insecurity have compounded the catastrophe. Lack of water, low immunization coverage and precarious sanitation resulting from displacements combine to increase the risk of communicable diseases such as cholera, typhoid fever, diarrhoea, acute respiratory infections and measles. Education is also suffering with many schools forced to close due to the drought. As a result of reduced food reserves at household levels, the rate of school dropouts is increasing. In Ethiopia more than 280 schools remain closed as a result of the drought.
Over 12 million people in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia are severely affected and in urgent need of humanitarian aid. Estimates include 3.7 million people in Somalia, 4.5 million Ethiopians, 2.4 million Kenyans, 600 thousand Ugandans, close to 150 thousand Djiboutians and potentially many more Eritreans. This is without question the gravest food crisis in the world and the numbers are getting worse. The UN estimates that tens of thousands of people have already died. There is no likelihood of this situation improving until 2012. This figure of affected people is a 38% increase since the figure recorded in March 2011.
Heartbreakingly it is children that are the most vulnerable in emergency situations like this. Not only are they physically less able to cope, with malnutrition and dehydration impacting them much more rapidly, there is a serious risk of long-term physical, intellectual and psychological harm. UNICEF estimates that over 2 million young children across the Horn of Africa are malnourished and urgently need lifesaving actions. An estimated half a million of those children face imminent threats to their survival, and long lasting consequences to their physical and mental development.
ChildFund is responding to the situation in Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia, where our national offices are working with partners to plan and coordinate emergency aid to affected children and families. ChildFund’s Horn of Africa Food Crisis Appeal will focus on providing food, water and medical support to the most vulnerable community groups, including infants and young children, child-headed households and pregnant or breastfeeding mothers. In the areas where ChildFund operates it is estimated that 660,000 persons are affected with approximately 7,000 children facing life threatening conditions. ChildFund is addressing the immediate life-threatening conditions affecting children – providing food, water and basic health services, as well as supplemental feeding through early childhood and development centres to ensure babies and young children will not fall into acute malnutrition. In addition, ChildFund is working to help families stay in their own communities so that when the rains come in September they are there to plant crops and cultivate their farms. If they don’t plant, they will lose another harvest and experience another year without food. ChildFund is also addressing child protection issues as many parents are simply too weak to care for their children.
Help us help them.
Please donate now by calling 01-6762128 or emailing us at info@childfund.ie
Thank You.
