“Despite significant progress in the food security outlook for the Horn of Africa, the child survival crisis is far from over. Millions of children require sustained assistance in the critical months ahead. Otherwise we can easily see a reversal of the hard-won achievements,” said Elhadj As Sy, UNICEF Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa, on the occasion of the launch of the report Response to the Horn of Africa emergency that describes the UNICEF humanitarian operation in the six months after famine was declared in parts of Somalia in July 2011.

“The prospects for a sustained recovery are increasingly precarious. The most recent weather outlook in combination with persisting insecurity and violence in many areas can lead to new shocks and disruptions, a development which again puts the lives of hundreds of thousands of children at risk,” said As Sy, who is the UNICEF Global Emergency Coordinator for the Horn of Africa crisis.

According to the latest projections, the March-May seasonal rains will remain below average in most parts of the region. On-going conflict in Somalia, terror attacks and ethnic violence in parts of Kenya as well as threats against aid workers are limiting humanitarian access to refugees and communities affected by the crisis.

More than 8 million people across the Horn of Africa need emergency assistance. Nearly a third of Somalia’s population—some 2.51 million people—are still in acute humanitarian crisis, including more than 323,000 acutely malnourished children. Some 463,000 Somali refugees in the Dadaab camps in north eastern Kenya, 142,000 people in the Dollo Ado camps in Ethiopia as well as  22,000 people in the Ali Addeh camp in Djibouti as well as 1.35 million Somalis displaced within their own country also continue to require support.

Results achieved in 2011

The report details the results of UNICEF’s massive humanitarian response in the second half of 2011 which include:

• The delivery of more than 60,000 metric tons of life-saving UNICEF supplies to Horn of Africa countries by air, land and sea routes;
• The treatment of close to 350,000 severely malnourished children;
• The vaccination of 7.9 million children against measles;
• The provision of safe water to 3.2 million people; and
• The facilitation of access for more than 200,000 children to child-friendly spaces or other safe environments.

Thanks to massive support from donors and other partners, UNICEF contributed to the downgrading of Somalia’s originally six famine zones to the lower emergency level; a three-fold reduction in global acute malnutrition in Kenya’s Turkana region; and very high recovery rates from acute malnutrition and low mortality rates among children in Ethiopia.

Building the resilience of families and communities

In 2011, UNICEF received more than $405 million for its humanitarian response in the Horn of Africa, reaching 96 per cent of the total amount needed. This year, UNICEF needs an additional $413.8 million for its relief and recovery operations in the Horn of Africa.

Interventions include a strong focus on resilience building among families and communities, for instance through targeted cash transfers, the increased use of mobile health teams, strengthening capacities at community level for early surveillance and treatment of acute malnutrition, mapping of water and sanitation facilities in high risk areas to enable better preparedness, alternative basic education with flexible schooling hours and mobile schools for hard-to-reach populations such as pastoralists and the inclusion of peace education in teacher training programmes as well as other activities to reduce the risk that natural and other hazards turn into yet another disaster.

“The coming months demand continued and sustained support to ensure that the multiple needs of vulnerable children are met and that another catastrophe can be averted,” said As Sy. “If vigilance is not maintained, famine may return. However, together we can make a fundamental difference for millions of children in the Horn of Africa.”

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See this release at Unicef.org.

About UNICEF
UNICEF works in 190 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

Learn about what the Salesians are doing to help those in need in the Horn of Africa.

Special Note: Salesian Missions is working to raise funds to support the aid efforts of Salesians in the Horn of Africa (Kenya and Ethiopia). The Salesians are part of the international Catholic response to the crisis, reaching approximately one million people currently. To make a donation, go to SalesianMissions.org, click on Donate Now and select “African Famine Fund.”

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The campaign includes television, radio and internet ads featuring well-known actors and public figures, and will direct audiences to visit www.usaid.gov/FWD to find more information about the crisis and a listing of U.S.-funded humanitarian organizations—including Salesian Missions—working in the Horn of Africa that are accepting donations to aid in disaster relief.

The FWD campaign was developed in response to the drought and famine in the Horn of Africa. The campaign encourages Americans to do more than just donate by providing tools to spread awareness of the crisis, support the humanitarian organizations conducting the relief operations, and learn more about the solutions through President Obama’s Feed the Future initiative.

Across the eastern Horn of Africa, more than 13 million people—a number greater than the populations of Los Angeles and New York City combined—are now in need of emergency assistance to survive. The crisis is the most severe humanitarian emergency in the world today, and the worst that East Africa has seen in six decades. Crops have failed, livestock have died, and high prices in local markets prevent many people from buying what is needed to feed their families. Millions of people are affected in Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya, and in Somalia where tens of thousands of people have died as a result of the crisis.

Through the Feed the Future initiative, the United States Government is addressing the root causes of chronic hunger by helping foster better farming, stronger markets, and greater resilience to climate shocks.

“We know that these types of crises don’t need to happen. Through Feed the Future, we are working to end hunger around the world,” says Rajiv Shah, USAID administrator. “By partnering with governments, the private sector and smallholder farmers, we can help nations build resilient agricultural sectors and break the devastating cycle of food riots, famine and failed states.”

Despite the magnitude of the crisis, according to a national survey released today by the Ad Council, conducted online by Harris Interactive among 2,226 U.S. adults aged 18 and older in September 2011, more than half (52 percent) of the general public say that they have not seen, heard, or read anything about the drought and famine occurring in the Horn of Africa.

The campaign aims to change those numbers with television and web ads featuring Dr. Jill Biden and actors Uma Thurman, Josh Hartnett, Geena Davis and Chanel Iman. The campaign will also be engaging high-profile athletes such as Lance Armstrong and writer and television host Anthony Bourdain. In addition to the traditional ads, the campaign includes an extensive social media program via USAID’s Facebook and Twitter channels, as well as blogs and other sites.

“We are extremely proud to be among the humanitarian organizations partnering with USAID,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions headquartered in New Rochelle, NY. “We are very thankful for the Ad Council’s work on the FWD campaign and are hopeful more people will become aware of the crisis and take action to help save lives.”

Salesian Missions supports programs in South Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya which have all been affected by the crisis in the region. In refugee camps served by Salesians in the area, more than 80,000 people are in need of assistance, according to Brother Cesare Bullo, executive director of the Salesian Planning and Development Office in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

“They arrive after having walked more than 600 kilometers,” says Br. Bullo, emphasizing the urgent nature of the refugees’ needs. “We are working to distribute food outside the refugee camps while they are waiting to be registered,” he says, referring to the area of Dolo Ado in the Southern part of Somalia. “We estimate we can provide 2,000 daily rations which means 1,000 people will benefit from the daily distribution for at least three or four days before entering the camps.”

The Salesians specialize in assessing specific needs and identifying best possible emergency interventions to aid as many people as possible. Since they are already established in the communities working to help those in need, they are in a unique position to assess situations and respond. Amid the growing numbers of refugees and declining food and water supply at the Kakuma camp, the seemingly impossible is happening. Young people are receiving job training and children are attending school.

Salesian Missions calls on the public to make donations, as they are urgently needed to fulfill these essential life-saving projects. To make a donation, go to www.SalesianMissions.org, click on Donate Now and select “African Famine Fund.”

Salesian Missions is the U.S. arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco, which operates in more than 130 countries around the globe with a focus on providing education and opportunity to youth. Since registering with USAID as a private voluntary organization, the Salesian Missions Office for International Programs has implemented 70 projects totaling more than $50 million in financial support.

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Source: USAID | Salesian Missions

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“We have saved many children, in Somalia, in the refugee camps in neighboring countries as well as in the other regions in Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti hit by prolonged drought, escalating food prices and conflict,”  explains Elhadj As Sy, the UNICEF regional director for Eastern and Southern Africa, releasing the report entitled Response to the Horn of Africa Emergency.

“Due to the magnitude of the humanitarian crisis, we have to increase our immediate response and at the same time lay the foundation for long-term development to prevent a similar catastrophe from happening again.”

He called for the scaling up of integrated interventions in health, nutrition, food security, water and sanitation, education and child protection.

A total of 13.3 million people needed assistance in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Djibouti as a result of what aid agencies said was the worst drought in the region in six decades.

More than 450,000 Somalis have fled to refugee camps around Dadaab in north-eastern Kenya, including 100,000 since June. Another 183,000 Somalis entered Ethiopia. Some 20,000 other refugees from Somalia went to Djibouti. Famine was formally declared in six areas of Somalia.

Thousands of children have already died, and more than 320,000 – half of them in central and southern Somalia – are suffering from life-threatening malnutrition.

Thanks to international support over the past three months, UNICEF and partners across the Horn of Africa have achieved important results on which to build, according to the report.

Over the past three months, UNICEF has delivered 10,000 tons of assorted life-saving relief supplies to the Horn of Africa by air, land and sea, and supported the treatment of 108,000 severely malnourished children in therapeutic feeding centers. Some 1.2 million children have been vaccinated against measles, and an estimated 2.2 million people benefited from access to safe water. About 48,000 children were provided access to child-friendly environments.

In central and southern Somalia, where access for humanitarian agencies is limited, UNICEF has been able to reach 350,000 people with supplementary feeding and some 30,000 families with cooked meals while they were on their way to the refugee camps in Kenya and Ethiopia.

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Special Note: Salesian Missions is working to raise funds to support the aid efforts of Salesians in the Horn of Africa (Kenya and Ethiopia). The Salesians are part of the international Catholic response to the crisis, reaching approximately one million people currently. To make a donation, go to SalesianMissions.org, click on Donate Now and select “African Famine Fund.”

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Ban’s statement came at a ministerial mini-summit on humanitarian response to the Horn of Africa which was held on the sidelines of the ongoing general debate of the UN General Assembly ‘s 66th session.

“The Horn of Africa is in crisis, and that crisis grows deeper by the day,” Ban said. “In Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Djibouti, more than 13 million people need our help.”
According to Ban, there is a shortage of about 700 million U.S. dollars in assistance needed in 2011 for the region.

The food crisis in the Horn of Africa has been caused by drought and rising food prices. Saturday’s mini-summit is aimed at raising vital funds for needs in the African region.
Also at the meeting, Nassir Abdulaziz Al- Nasser, president of the General Assembly, called the humanitarian disaster in Northeast Africa to be on an “unimaginable scale.”

“As the world’s preeminent forum for international peace and security, it is our collective responsibility to provide moral and financial support to these highly vulnerable populations,” Al- Nasser said. “The rights to food, life and security are, after all, universal human rights.”

Al-Nasser said the General Assembly will focus on the humanitarian crisis there, pledging “we must also share the information and work closely and cooperative to ensure all needs are met” in addressing the complex issue.

“Underpinning our work must be the recognition that humanitarian issues are development issues, and that our success in protecting against natural disasters, such as extreme drought, will have a direct impact on the ability to fulfill the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),” he said.

About Salesian Missions at the United Nations

UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

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The reality of the situation in the Horn of Africa is unimaginable, and those working in the crisis zone struggle to provide critical information to the outside world, while also trying to save lives.

The international community’s reaction to the signs of massive famine in the Horn of Africa came too late, say the Salesians of Don Bosco in Ethiopia.  Refugee camps throughout the region are filled with tens of thousands of people in desperate need. The camp locations are extremely remote, with workers reporting they feel isolated and cut off from the rest of the world. Warnings of a famine disaster began in December 2010 but “nobody was listening,” said Mattia Grandi, a local project coordinator for the Salesian relief efforts told EWTN News.

Getting up-to-date information is a challenge even for humanitarian organizations who were already established in the famine zones, says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “Our missionaries working in the thick of the crisis are trying their best to send reports. But as expected, they must first attend to the immediate needs of the children and adults dying of malnutrition. Every second counts.”

Photographs that have made their way out of the isolated region tell stories that words simply cannot. The images are surreal, given the severe nature of the famine and the large numbers of people in desperate need of assistance. The realities of the situation are hard for anyone to process, even those who devote their lives to helping the poor and providing emergency aid.

“Long lines stretch from our refugee camps,” says Fr. Hyde, describing scenes from such photographs from the five Salesian refugee camps in the region, where an estimated 150,000 people are living in in desperate need of food and water.

“People of all ages waiting patiently for help. There is no visible sign of panic on their faces as malnutrition has sapped their energy and their spirits. Many of the victims are so frail, it is only a matter of days or even hours before they succumb to the starvation.”

Humanitarian organizations like Salesian Missions are urging people to help even though the situation may be overwhelming or seemingly hopeless. Although, the death toll is expected to be large, donations can and do make a difference, says Fr. Hyde. “Many lives can still be saved, we must not be discouraged.”

During recent weeks, the Salesians participated in the delivery of 49 tons of food to North Horr in Kenya, consisting of 25 tons of corn, 10 tons of beans, 10 tons of fortified flour, 3 tons of rice and 1 ton of cooking fat. An additional 25 tons of food were sent to Lodwa-Turkana – including corn, beans, cooking oil, peas, flour, biscuits and powdered milk.

Currently, Salesian Missions is providing 2,000 food rations each day and 10,000 liters of water twice a day. An international campaign launched by the Salesians is aimed at helping almost 4 million people living in the region. Donations can be made by going to www.SalesianMissions.org.

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“The crisis in the Horn of Africa is a human disaster becoming a human catastrophe,” reports Anthony Lake, executive director of UNICEF, the U.N.’s children’s agency.

According to Lake, 1.4 million children are affected in Somalia alone, with an estimated 390,000 suffering from malnutrition. His agency estimates that nearly 140,000 children in south-central Somalia are currently suffering from “severe acute malnutrition” and are near death.

On July 20, the U.N. declared a famine in two regions of southern Somalia, marking the first time since the early 90s that the U.N. has declared famine in Somalia. Across the region, nearly 11 million people are at risk according to UNICEF.

Malnutrition rates in Somalia are currently the highest in the world, with peaks of 50 percent in southern areas, according to Mark Bowden, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Somalia.

Aid agencies have struggled to reach the most desperate parts of Somalia, where Al-Shabab extremists maintain control and refuse access to essential humanitarian organizations, including the U.N. World Food Program. As a result, tens of thousands are fleeing to refugee camps in neighboring countries Ethiopia and Kenya.

The children and people of the Horn of Africa face not only a threat of death from starvation, but from diseases that spread easily in overcrowded refugee camps. Men, women and children travel hundreds of miles on foot to make it to refugee camps where, sadly, they face another deadly threat.

Water-borne diseases are also a “lethal threat to children in southern Somalia,” according to an Aug. 18 report from UNICEF, which urges that a rapid response is needed as cholera cases increase. The report cites that 75 percent of all cases of highly infectious acute watery diarrhea are among children under five.

According to UNICEF, many of the Horn of Africa’s rural and urban areas rely on shallow wells, which – unless they are protected or treated with chlorine – can become a perfect breeding ground for water-borne diseases.

Therefore, aid must not only focus on providing food, it must also include plans for access to ongoing clean water, says Brother Cesare Bullo, executive director of the Salesian Planning and Development Office in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

His office has put together plans to “rehabilitate” shallow wells to make them safe as well as dig new wells.

“We have located four water points that need to be rehabilitated and strengthened through the purchase of new pumps and additional excavations to find more water,” says Br. Bullo. “The new wells will be built in four areas for local communities very much in need of water at the moment. The wells need to be capable of providing a sufficient quantity of water during the droughts.”

In order to complete these projects, and provide life-saving food aid and water distribution, the Salesians have coordinated an international fundraising initiative. Salesian Missions of New Rochelle, NY, has put out an urgent appeal to U.S. donors to help raise the project goal of $850,000 that this initial response will require. To make a donation, go to www.SalesianMissions.org.

UN Photo/Stuart Price

Sources:

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=39086&Cr=Somali&Cr1=

http://www.unicef.org/media/media_59585.html

http://www.unicef.org/media/media_59241.html

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“Entire communities have nothing to eat and people, many of them children, are dying,” explained Salesian missionaries serving in the Kakuma refugee camp in northern Kenya. More than 20,000 Somali refugees sought refuge at the camp after fleeing the political instability, hunger and overcrowding of other camps. This brings the total refugees at Kakuma to more than 50,000 with an estimated 1,000 additional Somali refugees arriving daily.

In refugee camps served by Salesians in the area, more than 80,000 people are in need of assistance, according to Brother Cesare Bullo, executive director of the Salesian Planning and Development Office in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Authorities fear that this crisis could become worse than the famine of 1984-85 when more than one million people died. In response, the Salesians have organized an international fundraising initiative aimed to raise at least $850,000 to provide necessary aid for 6 months.

Projects to address the urgent needs of the drought and famine victims include the repair and maintenance of existing wells, drilling of new wells, water distribution and emergency food aid.

The repair and maintenance of four wells will provide a long-term water supply for 8,000 people. In additional, four new wells will be constructed. In total, it is estimated that at least 14,000 people will benefit from these new water sources.

“We have located four water points that need to be rehabilitated and strengthened through the purchase of new pumps and additional excavations to find more water,” says Br. Bullo. “The new wells will be built in four areas for local communities very much in need of water at the moment. The wells need to be capable of providing a sufficient quantity of water during the droughts.”

The Salesians also have a plan in the works to provide a water tracking service for water distribution in the area around Jijiga, to aid the pastoralist communities. The goal is to distribute 10-12,000 liters of water twice daily.

With 1,000 new refugees arriving daily in Ethiopia from Somalia, Br. Bullo says it takes three to four days for them to register with UNHCR and enter the camp to receive aid.

“They arrive after having walked more than 600 kilometers,” says Br. Bullo, emphasizing the urgent nature of the refugees’ needs.

“We are working to distribute food outside the refugee camps while they are waiting to be registered,” he says, referring to the area of Dolo Ado in the Southern part of Somalia. “We estimate we can provide 2,000 daily rations which means 1,000 people will benefit from the daily distribution for at least three or four days before entering the camps.”

Br. Bullo estimates they will help at least 10,000 people outside the camps in the first month.

Salesian Missions calls on the public to make donations, as they are urgently needed to fulfill these essential life-saving projects.

“So far, we have raised about a third of the needed funds and are hopeful that the remaining amount will follow as caring friends and donors learn of the crisis,” says Father Mark Hyde, director of Salesian Missions in New Rochelle, NY.

To make a donation, go to www.SalesianMissions.org, click on Donate Now and select “African Famine Fund.”

The Salesians specialize in assessing specific needs and identifying best possible emergency interventions to aid as many people as possible. Since they are already established in the communities working to help those in need, they are in a unique position to assess situations and respond.

For example, in Ethiopia the Salesians operate in 14 towns, providing schools, feeding programs, housing for orphans, and HIV/AIDS intervention programs. In Kenya, the Salesians bring classrooms to refugee camps, protect youth from disease, teach agriculture skills, feed hungry children and families, and much more.

PHOTO: ROBERTO SCHMIDT (AFP/Getty)

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