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***Donations can be made from Thursday at www.dec.org.uk by phone 0370 60 60 900***
LEADING UK humanitarian agencies are launching a joint appeal to help more than 10 million people in the grip of East Africa’s worst drought in over half a century.
Caught up in the crisis are thousands of families trekking for days across parched scrubland from Somalia to Kenya – including barefoot children with no food or water.
The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) announced today (Thursday, 7.7.11) that appeals will be broadcast on Friday by ITV/ITN, BBC, Sky, Channel 4 and Channel Five.
DEC Chief Executive Brendan Gormley said:
“Slowly but surely, these people have seen their lives fall apart – crops, livestock and now their homes have been taken by the drought.
“They’ve been left with no alternative but to seek shelter and life-saving help elsewhere. We have a duty to help quickly before the situation spirals out of control.”
Large areas of Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia are affected and the DEC appeal will also include South Sudan – set to become the world’s newest country on July 9.
More than 1,300 people a day, the majority of them children, are arriving in the Dadaab refugee camp in eastern Kenya near the border with Somalia.
The Dadaab camp was already the world’s largest refugee camp with a population of 350,000 – larger than the city of Leicester.
“Of course these people need a long-term solution with investment and political will – but right now it’s about preventing a tragedy,” said Mr Gormley.
“Many of these are a forgotten people, caught in the midst of conflict in Somalia and an ever-worsening environmental crisis.”
Agencies will be working through local partners to access remote and difficult to reach areas across East Africa with food, water, therapeutic feeding for malnourished children and medical treatment.
Despite the enormous challenges of reaching those affected in Somalia in particular, DEC agencies and their partners are already helping hundreds of thousands of people - but their work is being severely hampered by a lack of funding.
The UK has taken a lead among the world’s governments with a pledge of £38m to the World Food Programme of the UN, which will provide the food aid that many of the DEC’s members will be distributing. The UN’s own appeal is only 40% funded.
The DEC does not set fundraising targets for its appeals and its member agencies are continuing to pursue funding from a range of potential sources to bridge the shortfall in East Africa.
Donations can be made from Thursday at www.dec.org.uk by phone 0370 60 60 900 or by texting ‘CRISIS’ to 70000 to donate £5 or by post at PO Box 999 London EC3A 3AA.
Notes to editors:
- The DEC member agencies are: ActionAid, Age UK, British Red Cross, CAFOD, CARE International UK, Christian Aid, Concern Worldwide, Islamic Relief, Merlin, Oxfam, Plan UK, Save the Children, Tearfund and World Vision.
- The DEC will lead all media work on behalf of its member agencies from 00:01 Thurs, July 8.
- The DEC East Africa Crisis Appeal will close at the end of December.
Please donate to our emergency response fund
Longer term work
In addition to our immediate response in the face of this current food crisis CARE International emphasises the need to tackle the long-term, underlying causes of poverty. We have been present in the region for over 25 years and are helping families to break the cycle of hunger and to adapt to the changing climate and recurring droughts.
Our ongoing work in the region includes:
- Maintenance, protection and development of water points and wells.
- Working with women in Mandera, Kenya to revive traditional food preservation techniques.
- Vaccination of animals to prevent diseases breaking out as they congregate at remaining water points.
- Helping families have more consistent sources of income by supporting them in diversifying their work.
Read more stories from the East Africa Food Crisis:
Staff blog: Sabine Wilke, Emergency Media Officer in Dadaab - 12 August
Video: East Africa Crisis - CARE's response - 12 August
Slideshow: Dadaab refugee camp - 12 August
Somalia to Dadaab: a journey filled with danger - 10 August
Somalia: famine declared in three additional regions of South-Central - 5 August
Ethiopia: in a drought prevention pays - 26 July 2011
Staff Blog: Confusion and waiting in Dadaab, Kenya - 18 July 2011
Staff Blog: "The need for food assistance is increasing at alarming rate" - 16 July 2011
Urgency grows in the Horn of Africa - 15 July 2011
Slideshow: More pictures from the East Africa Food Crisis - 14 July 2011
Staff Blog: Horn of Africa Food Crisis - Dadaab refugee camp - 8 July 2011
Slideshow: East Africa Food Crisis - 8 July 2011
Horn of Africa: The most severe food crisis in the world - 1 July 2011
Reviving traditions to survice drought in Kenya - 3 June 2011
Ethiopia food shortage: The worst is yet to come - 25 May 2011
Press releases from the East Africa food Crisis:
Saving cattle can save lives in drought-stricken Africa - 29 July 2011
DEC East Africa Crisis Appeal reaches £30 million - 25 July 2011
DEC East Africa Crisis Appeal reaches £27 million - 22 July 2011
DEC East Africa Crisis Appeal reaches £20 million - 18 July 2011
DEC East Africa Crisis Appeal reaches £18 million - 18 July 2011
Violence against women doubles in giant East Africa refugee camp - 17 July 2011
DEC East Africa Crisis Appeal reaches £15 million - 14 July 2011
DEC East Africa Crisis Appeal reaches £13 million - 13 July 2011
DEC agencies prepare to scale up work in Somalia - 13 July 2011
Reported cases of sexual violence have quadrupled among refugees - 12 July 2011
Horn of Africa food crisis: CARE launches £16 million appeal - 11 July 2011
UK donations for East Africa Crisis Appeal reach £8 million - 10 July 2011
DEC aims to help prevent East Africa Crisis becoming a catastrophe - 10 July 2011
DEC East Africa Crisis Appeal reaches £6 million - 9 July 2011
Aid delivered in East Africa as DEC Appeals broadcast in UK - 8 July 2011
Africa’s newest country in grip of food crisis - 8 July 2011
DEC announces East Africa Crisis Appeal - 7 July 2011
Drought in Kenya: “Situation of refugees is grave” - 4 July 2011
Horn of Africa: CARE calls for more attention to severe food insecurity - 19 May 2011
