May 2012
Christian Aid is responding to the food crisis in east Africa having launched an emergency appeal to help people affected across the region.
Please give now to help us reach those most in need.
Drought and displacement
In 2011, drought and displacement combined with rising food prices left more than 13 million people in the east and the horn of Africa, especially Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia, in urgent need of humanitarian support.
With some parts of the region experiencing the driest conditions in 60 years, UNOCHA called the situation the worst food security crisis in the world today.
At the same time, Christian Aid is concerned that large numbers of people who have been displaced within South Sudan and from Somalia are also facing food shortages.
While the arrival of rains in late 2011 has enabled Christian Aid's partners to begin supporting communities in Kenya and Ethiopia to rebuild their livelihoods, poor rains are predicted in 2012 and we are concerned that communities may face extreme hunger once more
We are continuing our emergency relief response in Somalia where ongoing conflict and insecurity continues to affect people, and in South Sudan where escalating violence has affected and dsiplaced thousands.
In this video, Christian Aid's head of humanitarian division, Nick Guttmann, speaks about visiting north eastern Kenya and Ethiopia, and the work our partners are doing to help those affected by the drought.
Christian Aid partners are responding
Our partners in Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan and Somalia have expanded their activities to meet people's immediate and long-term needs.
Kenya
Following rains in late 2011, Northern Aid and Christian Community Services Mount Kenya East in north eastern Kenya have been able to move beyond emergency relief activities, including providing emergency water tanks, and animal feed to protect livestock which are crucial to people's livelihoods.
They are now supporting communities as they recover from the drought and build their resilience to future emergencies by:
providing additional water points and maintaining existing boreholes
providing drought tolerant seeds and tools for farmers alongside training
enabling families to diversify their livestock to include chickens and other poultry that are more resilient to dry conditions than larger animals
improving the healthcare of livestock.
We are also working through ACT Alliance partner Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in Dadaab refugee camp, northern Kenya, providing urgently needed life-saving measures. This includes the administration of newly arrived refugees that enables partners to respond to each family's specific and immediate needs.
Ethiopia
Christian Aid has been working through LWF in Dollo Ado refugee camp in southern Ethiopia to support large numbers of Somali refugees. The appeal funds mean LWF is able to:
ensure safe drinking water gets to at least 20,000 refugees in the camp reception and transit centres
provide a sustainable water supply to the camp area
reduce the chances of outbreaks of waterborne diseases, such as diarrhoea and cholera, through the construction of 200 latrines.
Appeal funds are also allowing us to fund work rehabilitating pasture land and ensuring people can access clean water for their families and for the livestock on which they depend. This builds on long-term work which has been helping communities build their resilience to drought.
Somalia
In Somalia, our work is carried out by ACT Alliance partners Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe and Norwegian Church Aid, and local organisations Bani'adam and GREDO in Mogadishu.
We are supporting them to provide essential food and improve access to drinking water.
South Sudan
Through local partners ECS Sudra and HARD, we are working with up to 1,500 displaced and vulnerable families in Bahr el Ghazal and Warrap state:
providing them with emergency food and water supplies
distributing emergency shelter and household goods
ensuring they have essential hygiene kits.
In Jonglei, LWF and Norwegian Church Aid are providing food and other essential items for the displaced.
Most significantly, our partners throughout the region are working with communities to become more resilient to future crises.
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