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Oxfam Ireland - Kenya: Countdown to Disaster

21 April 2006

On Friday 21 st April, Oxfam Ireland is launching an innovative and original initiative - www.whocaresaboutkenya.org to highlight both the current food crisis in Kenya putting 3.5 million people at risk and the underlying causes as to why in this world of plenty this is happening again and again. In Kenya and surrounding countries, two years of consecutive failed rainy seasons are exposing around 11 million people to a severe water, food, health and livelihoods crisis. If the current rainy season fails once more, the region might witness a mass famine, unless the necessary relief and funding is secured. However, even if this rainy season is good, millions of people will remain dependent on food aid, water aid and other support for the next few months, even years. While affecting all the Horn of Africa, Oxfam Ireland is currently intervening in Kenya and Tanzania to assist people hit by the drought. These interventions happen mostly through local partner organizations on the ground.

Oxfam Ireland has a wider message to get across with its dedicated website www.whocaresaboutkenya.org . We want the public to understand why these emergency situations keep occurring and that while we are there on the ground saving lives, our mission is much broader. We want to stop this happening. The website is designed to generate awareness in a comprehensive, reasoned way of why these crises occur and what can be done to stop them. It also contains information on positive actions that people can take to stop the countdown.

Oxfam Ireland 's Humanitarian Co Ordinator Michael Riordan who has recently returned from Kenya said " People were only just recovering from the drought of 2000/2001. Now their few resources are depleted much faster. They have no reserves to rebuild once this is over if they can even survive that long ."

Water in the area has become so scarce that families are surviving on around forty litres of water a week, or less, when international minimum standards call for 15 litres per person per day. On average this translates in three glasses of water per person per day for drinking, washing and cooking! In many places women have to walk forty kms up each way in order to get hold of the little water they can.

The Countdown to disaster is as follows:

10 years since the world's governments promised to halve hunger

9 centuries of pastoralist way of life under threat

8 procrastinating economic superpowers

7 out of 10 cows in the region dead

6 food crises in 15 years

5 decades of declining living standards

4 months since the world was warned

3 and a half million lives on the line

2 years of failed rains

1 last chance to prevent this disaster

0 excuses

What do we want people to do?

- Give a donation to help Oxfam Ireland meet both urgent needs and address the longer-term problems so as to reduce the vulnerability of these particular poor people to such disasters.

-  We want to inspire people to find out more about Oxfam Ireland 's work by visiting our dedicated website www.whocaresaboutkenya.org

To donate to Oxfam Ireland 's Kenya : Countdown to Disaster Appeal or find out more: please lo call 1890 60 60 65 (ROI) and 0845 303 0337 (NI) online at www.oxfamireland.org or by calling into any of Oxfam's 44 shops throughout the country.

To arrange interview with Michael O Riordan, Oxfam Ireland 's Humanitarian Co ordinator who has recently returned from Kenya please call: Oxfam Ireland 's Media Executive Paul Dunphy on 01 6040706 or paul.dunphy [at] oxfamireland.org

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