Somalia famine Calls for more aid as crisis deepens
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/07/2011 (5166 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
DOLO, Somalia — Somalia’s famine will be five times worse by Christmas unless the international community increases its food aid, Australia’s foreign minister said during a visit to Somalia, even as the international Red Cross distributed 400 tons of food into hard-to-reach areas of southern Somalia.
Kevin Rudd was in Somalia’s famine-struck area of Dolo to appeal to the world to help avoid a catastrophe. During his visit hundreds of women with small children in tow massed around a World Food Program table in hopes of qualifying for food aid. Rudd talked with internal refugees who have had little to eat in days.
World Food Program’s Executive Director Josette Sheeran said Sunday the program will open new feeding sites in and around Dolo by the end of the week. She said it is critical that WFP gets new funding to fight the three-pronged catastrophe of drought, conflict and high food prices.
WFP estimates more than 11.3 million people need aid across drought-hit regions in East Africa.
Last week, Canada increased its donation by $50 million, in addition to $22.3 million already pledged for the drought-ravaged Horn of Africa.
The U.S. also announced it was giving an additional $28 million in emergency funding on top of the $431 million in assistance already given this year.
But Rudd suggested countries need to do more to avoid a massive number of deaths.
The UN is set to greatly expand the areas in southern Somalia classified as famine, and because seasonal rains are still months away — if they come at all — officials say the situation is going to get much worse in coming weeks and months.
“Act now… This is an avoidable catastrophe if urgent action is taken today,” Rudd said.
The UN fears tens of thousands of people already have died in the famine in Somalia. The drought has created a triangle of hunger where the borders of Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia meet.
— The Associated Press
