Press release
Horn of Africa food crisis: CARE launches US$25 million appeal
Emergency response to reach 1.8 million people
Geneva, July 11, 2011 – CARE International, one of the world’s leading aid agencies, has launched an emergency appeal for US$25 million to provide food, water and emergency relief to people affected by the drought in Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya. CARE is already providing emergency assistance to nearly one million people, but additional funding is urgently needed to scale up our response to the growing crisis.
More than ten million people in Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia and Djibouti are in need of humanitarian assistance, with the number growing by the day. In Dadaab, the world’s largest refugee camp in the world, more than 1,500 people are arriving daily in desperate need of food, water and shelter. The UN is predicting the situation will deteriorate and continue into next year. Despite the severity of the crisis, just half the amount needed to fund the humanitarian response has been committed by international donors so far.
CARE is planning to scale up our response to reach 1.8 million people in Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya.
“This is a severe crisis which requires our immediate assistance. The current crisis builds upon years of consecutive droughts and deteriorating conditions. As livestock have died en masse, pastoralists are losing their main assets and means to survive. They have nothing left to feed their families,” says Barbara Jackson, CARE International’s Humanitarian Director. “It is very important to recognize that people need not only humanitarian relief but long-term assistance to become resilient to the impact of droughts. The Horn of Africa is a chronically food insecure area and the underlying reasons for this, including deep poverty, social injustice, climate change and conflict, need to be tackled once and for all to break this deadly cycle of recurring food crises.”
CARE’s emergency response in the Horn of Africa includes assistance for commercial and slaughter de-stocking of animals; therapeutic and supplementary feeding;cash transfers to households affected with children suffering from severe malnutrition ; provision of water through water tankering; distribution of water treatment supplies; training on safe hygiene and supporting livelihoods through cash-for-work programs. In the refugee camps of Dadaab, CARE is the primary distributor of food, water and primary education for the more than 380,000 refugees.
CARE Response in Detail
Ethiopia
Beneficiaries reached to date: 241,587
- CARE is scaling up its emergency response to address the needs of 855,000 people in four sectors: food assistance; nutrition; water, sanitation and hygiene; and support to livelihoods (agriculture and livestock).
- Our response is currently focused in Oromia region (Borena, East and West Hararghe zones) and in Afar region (Zone 5). CARE is considering expanding in other regions.
Somalia (Puntland and Somaliland)
Beneficiaries reached to date: 164,000
- CARE plans to scale up its interventions to address water and sanitation, and support livelihoods.
- CARE has been responding to the current drought conditions in the northern regions of Puntland and Somaliland by rehabilitating water harvesting structures such as water pans, shallow wells; supporting livelihoods by implementing cash-for-work programs and cash relief to most vulnerable households in the affected areas.
Kenya
Beneficiaries reached to date: 537,000
- CARE has assisted 167, 000 people in Kenya’s North Eastern region and plans to scale up and reach an additional 200,000 in the coming weeks.
- CARE Kenya has been addressing drought conditions with emphasis on addressing long-term vulnerabilities and strengthening community resilience.
- CARE Kenya is emphasizing disaster risk management measures owned by the local communities and supports district veterinary department teams to vaccinate animals against the expected increase in diseases and need for treatment.
- Dadaab: CARE is the primary distributor of food, water and primary education for the more than 370,000 refugees currently living in the world’s largest refugee camp.
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About CARE: Founded in 1945, CARE is a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty. CARE has more than six decades of experience helping people prepare for disasters, providing lifesaving assistance when a crisis hits, and helping communities recover after the emergency has passed. CARE places special focus on women and children, who are often disproportionately affected by disasters. Our long-term poverty-fighting programs help poor communities become more resilient and less vulnerable to emergencies. Last year, CARE worked in 87 countries around the world to assist more than 82 million people improve basic health and education, fight hunger, increase access to clean water and sanitation, expand economic opportunity, confront climate change, and recover from disasters. To learn more, visit www.care-international.org.
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