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Yemen
CARE and 11 other INGOs are warning that disaster looms for Yemen if cuts to humanitarian aid continue. In a joint statement, the INGOs warn:
Recent figures show that 2.3 million children under the age of five are projected to go hungry this year if adequate funding is not secured. Some 400,000 of them are expected to die from severe acute malnutrition if they do not receive urgent treatment.
Aid programmes have helped provide vital water, food, health services and shelters for families driven from their homes or living in villages and cities ravaged by the war. In 2020, aid donors raised barely half of the amount pledged in 2019. These severe aid cuts have deepened the suffering: some 9 million people in Yemen have had their food assistance halved and 6 million people, including 3 million children, are without clean water and sanitation services during a global pandemic.
Aaron Brent, CARE Yemen Country Director, says:
Currently, CARE is operational in 14 governorates across Yemen providing emergency and recovery assistance to over 2 million people.
Ethiopia – desert locust swarms
Ethiopia’s crops for the Belg (rainy) season which starts in mid-February are at high risk due to the high number of desert locust swarms. Esther Watts, CARE Ethiopia Country Director, says:
CARE is particularly worried about the impact the loss of crops and livelihoods will have on women and girls. The Amhara region, where CARE works, already has one of the highest rates of early and forced marriages in the country where as many as 48% of girls are married by the age of 15. Evidence shows that forced early marriage practices often increase during times of economic stress.
CARE is working in locust affected areas of Hararghe as well as northern Amhara, with livelihoods and resilience programmes that also cover desert locust response. We are providing over 2,700 families with cash to support livelihoods recovery.
In the Tigray region, locusts add a worrying dynamic to the deteriorating humanitarian situation as sporadic fighting continues and security remains unstable and unpredictable. Partners on the ground are receiving reports indicating rising hunger, due to conflict exacerbating the impacts of the lean season and to desert locust infestation.
So far CARE has reached over 29,000 individuals in western Tigray with shelter and hygiene support, water treatment tablets and dignity kits in western Tigray locations. As well as contributing to the humanitarian response, CARE programming in Tigray will focus on restoring the disrupted agricultural input supply by supporting service providers, such as agrodealers, poultry farmers, and animal feed producers, so that farmers are prepared for the coming planting season.
Honduras
CARE is warning that “a staggering one third of the population of Honduras” could be “suffering from extreme and chronic hunger” by the end of 2021. Maite Matheu, Country Director of CARE Honduras, says:
According to Fredesvindo Rápalo, who lives in El Guiral Villanueva Cortes region:
CARE Honduras has provided food support to 24,675 people in our response to COVID-19 and to hurricanes Eta and Iota in November 2020. Another 7,137 (the majority of whom were women) received assistance in cash or vouchers to mitigate the socio-economic impacts associated with these crises. CARE is also providing support to enhance and reactivate rural livelihoods and women’s economic activities in rural and urban settings through the provision of seed capital, agricultural kits and technical support.
Somalia
Up to 2.7 million people or 21 percent of the Somali population is expected to face high levels of acute food insecurity in 2021 if urgent humanitarian assistance is not provided. Ahmed, a 61-year-old father from Lascanod district, said:
Iman Abdullahi, CARE Somalia Country Director, says:
CARE is responding to the worsening humanitarian situation through WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene), health and nutrition, and food and livelihoods support, including in the form of cash and vouchers, so people can choose how best to prioritise their own household needs.
Pakistan – freezing weather
Freezing conditions continue to impact Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces in Pakistan. Multiple emergencies including the COVID-19 pandemic, locust invasions and flooding have exacerbated the impact of the weather conditions. The flooding and locust invasion in 2020 impacted two cropping seasons, leaving families with inadequate food supplies to see them through the harsh winter. Communities in remote areas are now feeling the force of these compounding economic blows, affecting their ability to purchase necessities including food, winter clothing, blankets and medical supplies.
CARE Pakistan Country Director, Adil Sheraz, says:
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