One year after the declaration of famine in Somalia, a quarter of the country’s population are still surviving on humanitarian aid and over a million people could fall back into food crisis in the next two months.
On the eve of the 2012 African Cup of Nations, more than 25 footballers have spoken out in solidarity with millions of people facing hunger across their region.
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 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.
This week, Oxfam Ambassador Actress Scarlett Johansson visited Kenya to see the devastating impact of the drought in East Africa. More than 13 million people are at risk because of a severe drought that has hit parts of Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia. In Somalia, the crisis has escalated to a famine.
The world must put people’s lives before politics if is to stand any chance of aiding people suffering from the famine in Somalia, a group of 20 aid agencies said today in an open letter. While aid is getting through in many areas, it is not at the scale needed.
As East African leaders gather in Nairobi today to take part in a regional summit to end drought emergencies in the Horn of Africa, Oxfam says governments must take on greater responsibility and accountability in responding to the disaster.
A group of global artists, activists and business leaders have signed a joint letter urging world leaders to step up their response to the famine in the Horn of Africa. They call on them to act “without reservation, prevarication or equivocation” when they meet at an emergency summit in Rome today.