According to UNICEF Two million children are at risk of starvation in Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somalia. The worst drought in 60 years is compounded by rising food prices and a refugee crisis, creating a true children’s emergency in the Horn of Africa. Somalia is certainly not new to crisis the east African Nation has not had peace for the past 20 years, but the latest drought is the worst in history and has lead to severe famine. Two weeks ago, the United Nations declared two areas of Southern Somalia – Bakool and Lower Shabelle — as famine zones.
Definition of Famine– A famine is a widespread scarcity of food that may apply to any species. This phenomenon is usually accompanied or followed by malnutrition, starvation, and increased mortality.
The significance of this announcement was to draw world attention to the depth of the crisis.
Many will say why does this crisis in Somalia matter when we have people starving and dying of hunger right here in the United States? While the story is receiving massive media attention, it’s receiving little action. More and more women and children in children die in Somalia on daily basis, Hundreds of thousands of lives have been lost already in Somalia and neighboring countries, and many more are at stake. Yet the international community remains slow in its humanitarian response to this worsening crisis. Unless there is a massive increase in aid, food-security experts predict, the famine will spread rapidly. As the crisis in the Horn of Africa deepens, the United Nations has warned that all of southern Somalia could slip into famine in the next two months.
In all, more than 11 million people desperately need help in the nations of eastern Africa stricken by drought, conflict and rising food prices. If the world doesn’t act quickly enough, some 566,000 children fighting severe malnutrition could lose their struggle to survive.
Among the most urgent needs in the crisis response are therapeutic food for malnourished children, safe water for tankering in drought-stricken areas, bednets to prevent malaria, and family kits for people on the move – like the thousands of refugees who are crossing into Kenya from Somalia. Safe havens and learning spaces for children are priorities, as well.
“We have a huge need right now for airlift operations to get in the ready-to-use therapeutic food,” says UNICEF’s Director of Public Sector Alliances and Resource Mobilization, Afshan Khan. “So if there are in-kind donations in terms of airlift and air operations, that will be extremely helpful.”
Funding Gap
Despite repeated warnings from many UN agencies that the situation in the Horn of Africa was critical, the response from donors – both public and private – has been limited. To date, UNICEF faces a funding gap of more than $200 million for its emergency operations in the region, including over $120 million for Somalia alone.
“Only when people started crossing the borders,” says Ms. Khan, “was the world able to see the severity of the situation that children really faced – the haunting images of children that were malnourished, dying not only from lack of food but lack of water.”
Child deaths are also occurring, she adds, “due to measles and [other] epidemics that could be easily fixed if we had sufficient resources to vaccinate children, to ensure they got appropriate nutrition … and the provision of clean water and sanitation.”
‘A Moral Obligation’
Droughts have become cyclical in eastern Africa, and 2011 has been the driest in 60 years. Add to that the recent sharp rise in food prices, a long-running conflict in Somalia and a lack of infrastructure, institutions and planning to prevent future crises, and you have the ‘perfect storm’ that is the current emergency.
“There is a lot of work to be done in the short term to help address the immediate crisis,” says Ms. Khan, “but also in the medium and longer term, to build resilience and coping mechanisms of communities who by now have been hit with a cycle of drought and floods over a number of years.”
All eyes are now on the international community to take more concerted action on behalf of children at risk in the Horn of Africa.
Here are a few organizations that we support who are working on this crisis!
International Rescue Committee
Match our $10 Donation to UNICEF here! Or Donate to any of the organizations listed above!
Funds raised in excess of immediate needs in this disaster will be used to assist children in other emergency situations.
So sad…
How do you know which organization will actually donate to the cause?
Hi Marcus the sites we listed are 4 star organizations through Charity Navigator and GuideStar so they really use the money for the cause. I hope you can join me in supporting this cause.
Thanks I will be sure to make a donation.
Your donation will support a great cause
What is our government doing about this? Stop the war and we can use that money to save millions of lives!
I have personally donated $150 to a few charities to help in Somalia. I’m wondering how can we mobilize more Black celebrities to give to this cause?
@Michelle, that’s wonderful! I think once one celebrity donates, it’s a ripple effect, I will follow the donors closely and report back on how celebrities donated.