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First Famine of the 21st century a Wake-up Call

July 22, 2011 Comments off

ibtimes

The United Nations has officially declared Somalia’s food crisis a famine in several parts of the country.

A boy drinks water from a pond in Bule Duba village in the outskirts of Moyale, near the edge of Oroma and Somali regions of Ethiopia, June 12, 2009. Prolonged drought, lack of water and limited pasture have led to conflict between the Somali and Borena ethnic groups in southern Ethiopia which left hundreds of people dead in February this year. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) says it needs some 100 million Swiss francs to prevent conflict, famine and epidemics as well as restore the livelihoods of 2.5 million people in the Horn of Africa. Picture taken June 12, 2009. REUTERS

The UN says consecutive droughts over the last few years in Somalia have created a famine in two regions of the south. It is now appealing for immediate action to keep the crisis from spreading to other parts of the region.

International aid agency Oxfam said, the UN announcing famine in parts of Somalia, the first in the region in the 21st century, must be an urgent wake up call to the rest of the world for greater action in East Africa.

Across Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya, 12 million women, men and children are in dire need of food, clean water and basic sanitation, following two years of failed Read more…

Categories: famines, Somalia Tags: , , , , , , ,

Africa drought leaves 10 million facing famine and disease

July 5, 2011 Comments off

metro

The worst drought for 60 years is threatening more than ten million people with starvation and disease in eastern Africa, aid workers are warning.

Africa drought Refugees at a food distribution point in Dadaab – the world’s largest refugee camp (Pic: AFP/Getty)

A severe dry spell and wrecked harvests in parts of Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Uganda have caused what charities described as ‘the worst food crisis of the 21st century’, prompting multimillion-pound aid demands.

Save The Children is launching a £40million emergency appeal to help thousands of malnourished children, while Oxfam is calling for £50million.

The lack of water and supplies has pushed food prices up by 240 per cent, worsening conditions for those struggling to survive. More than half of those needing Read more…

Categories: Africa, famines Tags: , , , , , , , ,