Hunger Crisis in the Horn of Africa
- November 15, 2012
- By: Vonigo
Currently, over 13 million people are displaced, sick and starving due to severe drought conditions in the Horn of Africa (Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya and Uganda). Also, ongoing conflicts and an unsteady political climate across the region have compounding an already unimaginable crisis for these families. The situation is dire, but you can make a difference and save lives even with a small donation. $1 will feed four children.
The World Food Program, a United Nations non-profit organization funded entirely through voluntary donations from people like you, has teams on the ground right now distributing food and providing aid but they need your help to continue.
In August alone, WFP assisted some 990,000 people in Somalia; 3.74 million in Ethiopia (including 240,000 refugees); 1.86 million people in Kenya (including 546,000 refugees); 109,000 drought-affected people in Djibouti and more than 700,000 in the Karamoja region of Uganda. The numbers are staggering, but progress is being made every day.
In the Dolo Ado camps of Ethiopia for example, the acute malnutrition rate is over 50 percent among newly arrived children under five years of age. In response, WFP is supporting extensive feeding programs at camps and at transit centers in the region. Lives are being saved.
Many people are receiving aid, but countless others are not. The food aid shortfall in the Horn of Africa is projected to be over $215 million USD over the next six months. Action is desperately needed now and with your support the much needed aid being provided by WFP can continue and expand.
