Six months ago Oxfam launched our biggest ever Africa appeal in response to the drought t in East Africa. Thanks to your generous response the public all over the world donated around $32 million to Oxfam. This response has saved countless lives and Oxfam continues to provide emergency and long-term support to nearly 3 million affected people across the region, helping them recover and cope with future droughts.
The crisis is one of the worst we have faced in many years – over 13 million people have been affected, thousands have died, and many families have lost their livelihoods. The situation remains extremely concerning, especially in Somalia. However, your help has gone a very long way. Thank you
On the eve of the 2012 African Cup of Nations, more than 25 footballers including Seydou Keita from Mali, Charles Kaboré from Burkina Faso, Demba Bâ from Sénégal and Lawali Idrissafrom Niger have spoken out in solidarity with millions of people facing hunger across their region. They are appealing to the international community to work together so that “We CAN avert a major food crisis”.
Mali and Barcelona football star Seydou Keita added: “If we act now we could save the lives of women and children who are always the first victims of food crises. If we act urgently, millions of children will be saved from malnutrition and will have the chance to grow healthily and to succeed at school.”
Thousands of lives and millions of dollars lost due to late response to food crisis in East Africa
Lessons learnt can help prevent future disasters and save lives
Thousands of needless deaths occurred and millions of extra dollars were spent because the international community failed to take decisive action on early warnings of a hunger crisis in East Africa, according to a new report by the international aid agencies Oxfam and Save the Children.
Oxfam warns that conflict is slowing relief efforts
As more heads of state publicly support the military action in Somalia, Oxfam called on international leaders to refocus on addressing the crippling famine in the country. The agency urged all parties involved in the conflict to ensure that civilians are protected from being caught in the crossfire and that the Somali people have freedom of movement to access vital services.
On the day an improvement in famine conditions was announced, Oxfam said this is the time to accelerate the humanitarian response, rather than jeopardize small gains. New fighting is already disrupting the supply of aid to tens of thousands of people at a critical time in the crisis.
“When drought and famine made headline news, the international community responded generously with support. Now the conflict threatens to jeopardize the very relief efforts they’re funding. The international community must not give with one hand and then take with the other by ignoring the needs of Somali people who are struggling in the face of a famine,” said Jim Clarken, Oxfam Ireland’s Executive Director.
The new escalation in fighting and insecurity along the Kenya-Somalia border risks increasing the suffering for civilians already devastated by drought and conflict, international agency Oxfam said today, three months since famine was announced in Somalia.
Oxfam said that any increase in fighting is likely to cause further displacement and restrict the aid effort at a time when 750,000 Somalis are at risk of death due to deteriorating conditions. The agency urged all parties to the conflict to respect international humanitarian law and make all efforts to minimise civilian casualties, while ensuring that the flow of aid to famine zones is not affected.
The provision of healthcare services in Mogadishu remains in crisis with very few doctors to deliver specialist care to patients in need. Niamh Cahill speaks to healthcare workers in the region
Forget about your troubles and imagine for a moment daily life in Somalia. Some 3.7 million people there are affected by drought and famine – a figure almost the same size as the population of Ireland. In Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital, few doctors remain after many fled or were killed in fighting. Five hospitals with hugely depleted resources serve the needs of two million people. A community therapeutic care (CTC) programme delivered by SAA CID, a nongovernmental organisation founded in Somalia in 1990, in partnership with Oxfam, is trying to improve malnutrition among children under five years of age, as well as pregnant and lactating mothers.
In Turkana, the failed rains, lack of available food and rising prices have left drought-affected communities dependent on outside aid.
Oxfam’s emergency cash transfer program, funded by the Office for Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), a department of USAID, is helping to stimulate the local economy by working with 215 traders to boost their business and distribute monthly cash transfers to more than 5,500 drought-stricken families. This emergency cash offers people the choice to buy what they need and start alternative livelihoods to protect their assets in future droughts.
Kenya: A pastoralist woman stands under the shade of a tree
Lobunia Etoot holds his Oxfam registration card, Kenya
Kenya: Sabina Loliyak cooks a meal for her family
Waiting to collect their monthly cash transfers in Loruth, Kenya
Sabina Loliyak, Kenya
Kenya: Ekimat Maraha leaves a fingerprint to confirm cash receipt
Esinyem Maitha, Kenya
Jacinta runs a trader shop in the village of Nachukui, Kenya
It’s been a race against time to get water equipment constructed before refugees arrive in a new camp near Dolo Ado in southern Ethiopia. Thousands of refugees have been crossing the border from Somalia, fleeing the famine there. But this part of Ethiopia has itself suffered poor rains and is extremely dry and remote. Oxfam’s Jane Beesley meets a shipment of aid as it lands in Ethiopia, and follows it all the way to Dolo Ado where water tanks are constructed as the refugees arrive.
Nicole Johnston on resilience, hope and dignity in Dadaab.
Children play at the reception centre at Ifo camp. Photo: Nicole Johnston/Oxfam
Secretly, I was rather dreading Dadaab. For weeks I’d seen the images on TV: babies so emaciated they looked like a bundle of twigs wrapped in cloth; elderly people dying, their faces shrouded in a cloud of flies. I was bracing myself, mentally preparing to try to bear the unbearable and do the best job I could.
I hadn’t reckoned on being buoyed by the incredible energy that is generated by the half a million people living in the world’s biggest refugee camp, by engaging with people as three-dimensional human beings instead of cardboard cut-out caricatures of suffering, and most of all by their hope.
