UN calls Emergency meeting: "This is a Children's Famine" - originally posted 25.7.2011

In recent days famine has been declared in two areas of Somalia. 

Eye-witnesses report that thousands have already died.

Concern has been expressed that Somalia's rebel forces are exacerbating the humanitarian difficulties and refusing access by some agencies, fortunately not those associated with the DEC.

Today an emergency meeting was held in Rome at the UN's Food & Agricultural Organisation, called by the French Government which currently chairs the G20.

Josette Sheeran, Head of the World Food Programme, was in Somalia last week and reported to the meeting that half a million children will die in, "The worst food crisis many of us have ever seen." 

She said, "This is a children's famine."

THE NEED IS OBVIOUS & OVERWHELMING. 
PLEASE DON'T WAIT, DONATE NOW!

 Originally posted 25.7.2011

Statement on the East Africa Crisis by Rt Hon Alan Duncan MP, Minister for International Development - originally posted 26.7.2011

“This is the most urgent food crisis in twenty years, with more than 11 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia and Djibouti. The young are affected disproportionately and parents have been forced to watch their children die.

“Despite our efforts and those of other aid agencies, the UN appeals are still underfunded. This is a clear-cut example of where money is the limiting factor, and the more generous people in the West are, the more lives we can save. It’s as simple as that.”  

Rt Hon Alan Duncan MP

Member of Parliament for Rutland & Melton

Minister of State for International Development

Originally posted 26.7.2011

Archbishop of Canterbury issues urgent appeal for the Horn of Africa - originally posted 16.4.2011

"It is devastating to see once again the images of famine haunting our world, as parts of Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia face one of the worst droughts for 60 years. Lives are being devastated – more than 11 million people desperately need emergency relief, as well as long term solutions to support sustainable farming and prevent this crisis repeating itself.

 

"Children and other vulnerable people are dying – the urgency is intense to prevent this disaster reaching a point of catastrophe; to ensure that we do not fail our fellow human beings in the Horn of Africa.  In the longer term progress is possible: I saw it myself last month in a drought-struck part of Kenya, where local communities were being taught how to adapt to climate change through a local Church initiative.

"In Britain we can be encouraged by the response from the Department for International Development, which is leading the way in the international community in responding rapidly and effectively. The British public is also giving generously through the DEC appeal. This needs to continue, saving the lives of the young and the weak right now - and building for their future."

Dr Rowan Williams

Archbishop of Canterbury

For full text click here.

Originally posted 16.4.2011

DEC 'warmly supports' 103DEC Crisis Appeal by 103 The Eye - originally posted 30.7.2011

"This is the first famine in a century that should never have known famine. 

"Thousands of people have already died and millions are on the edge of survival. 

"The most vulnerable are the children and the elderly. 

"Yet a little money makes a real difference to these precarious lives, which is why the Disasters Emergency Committee warmly supports the all-day East Africa Crisis Appeal by 103 The Eye on Saturday 30 July. 

"Thank you and your listeners for helping those in so much need."

Brendan Paddy

Communications Manager

Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC)

Originally posted 30.7.2011

UN warns Somalia drought worse: 750,000 could die as 12million people need food aid - originally posted 5.9.2011

As many as 750,000 people could die as Somalia's drought worsens in the coming months, the UN has warned, declaring a famine in a new area.

The UN says tens of thousands of people have died after what is said to be East Africa's worst drought for 60 years.

Bay becomes the sixth area to be officially declared a famine zone - mostly in parts of southern Somalia controlled by the Islamist al-Shabab.

Some 12 million people across the region need food aid, the UN says.

The situation in the Bay region was worse than anything previously recorded, said senior UN's technical adviser Grainne Moloney.

"The rate of malnutrition [among children] in Bay region is 58%. This is a record rate of acute malnutrition," she told journalists in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

This is almost double the rate at which a famine is declared.

"In total, 4 million people are in crisis in Somalia, with 750,000 people at risk of death in the coming four months in the absence of adequate response," the UN's Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit (FSNAU) says.

Half of those who have already died are children, it says.

Neighbouring Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda have also been affected by the severe lack of rain.

For full story see BBC News.

See also BBC News - East Africa Hunger Crisis.  

Originally posted 5.9.2011