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I have to take a moment to post yet another "plug" for Unicef. As you may know, Somalia is now experiencing true famine. In tonight's news, there among the families on the brink of starvation were workers from Unicef. This organization is constant, trustworthy and efficient. I can't see news like this and not do something, and I know that whatever money I send to Unicef will be well-used. Please visit Unicef now and consider making a donation to help with the famine in Somalia. Even a donation of $5.00 can make a real difference.
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Press release
Situation in Horn of Africa set to get worse for millions of children
NAIROBI, Kenya, 17 July 2011 – UNICEF has called for immediate expansion of assistance across the Horn of Africa’s drought-affected communities, to address the dire needs of more than two million children, of whom half a million are at imminent risk of dying. With no improvement in overall food security conditions expected before early 2012, the already severe nutrition situation will likely worsen.
“What we are seeing is almost a perfect storm – conflict in Somalia, rising fuel and food prices, and drought. Now we are going another four to five months before there will be a harvest and we all have a huge job ahead,” said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake at the end of a four-day mission to Kenya. “In many of the poorest communities people are either too poor or too weak to be able to walk for help.” Across the region, nearly 11 million people are at risk.
During a field mission to the arid region of Turkana in northern Kenya, Lake saw
Lake heard from women who have to walk from dawn to midday in search for water in dry river beds. He heard how children were surviving, if lucky, on one meal a day, comprised often only of palm nuts, and lactating mothers were not able to produce enough milk to feed their newborns. In Somalia, hundreds of thousands of children and their families were already on the move to seek assistance either within camps for internally displaced people or flowing across the border into neighboring countries.
Lake pledged UNICEF’s continued support, stressing that the international children’s agency would continue working closely with partners to scale up an emergency response in the region, which has been underfunded for many years. He called on the international community and private donors alike to step up funding for UNICEF, WFP, UNHCR and other partners, and to focus new effort on finding solutions that address the deep-seated poverty and vulnerability in the region.
Across drought-affected areas in the Horn of Africa, UNICEF is working with partners to treat acute malnutrition through therapeutic feeding programmes; provide medicines and vaccinations to prevent disease; gain access to clean water through the repair of pumping stations, dig boreholes, chlorinate water sources and truck in water; support education through temporary learning spaces and the use of School-in-a-Box kits; and scale up of protection measures to ensure children are safe from violence, abuse and exploitation. UNICEF has appealed for US$ 31 million to cover the costs of most urgent scale up of operations.
About UNICEF
UNICEF is on the ground in more than 150 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. For more information about UNICEF and its work visit: www.unicef.org
UNICEF is on the ground in more than 150 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. For more information about UNICEF and its work visit: www.unicef.org
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