Aid urgently needed to help children in
drought-stricken Ethiopia
Nearly
half a million children under five suffering severe
malnutrition, Kiwis asked to help
As the
severity of ongoing drought in Ethiopia is exacerbated by
the arid effects of ‘super El Nino’, ChildFund New
Zealand is appealing to more New Zealanders to contribute to
their growing aid response.
“ChildFund, with the help of
New Zealand sponsors, has been responding to children and
families in need of water and food assistance in Ethiopia
following two consecutive seasons of failed rains,”
explains ChildFund New Zealand Chief Executive Paul
Brown.
“The continued impact of changing weather
patterns is making a bad situation worse, with millions now
affected and in need of urgent assistance.”
The global
organisation hopes to raise at least NZD $7million to help
make-up a mounting shortfall in aid funding for the region
which is suffering its worst drought emergency in
decades.
In December the Ethiopian government declared
that 10.2 million people will require immediate humanitarian
assistance in 2016, including nearly half a million children
under five who are suffering from Severe Acute Malnutrition
(estimated 435,000) and Moderate Acute Malnutrition
(estimated 1 million).
Two million people are without
access to safe drinking water, heightening the risk of
disease outbreak.
“Scarcity of water is challenging
health, education and livelihoods in most of our operational
areas,” says ChildFund Ethiopia’s National Director
Chege Ngugi.
“Our farmers cannot plant vegetables for
household consumption due to the lack of water, nor is there
sufficient water for drinking. Pastoralists are forced to
wander from place to place with their livestock looking for
water and pasture. Children are being taken out of school to
go in search of water.”
For the past three months,
ChildFund Ethiopia has been working with the government and
local partners to support 74,000 most vulnerable children
and family members in seven districts, providing emergency
relief in the form of supplementary food – sacks of Famix,
a high-protein, ready-to-eat mix of whole roasted corn and
soy flour – and edible (cooking) oil. ChildFund’s local
partners are also supporting the government to provide
blankets, sheets and mattresses to help health centres in
some of the areas to handle the growing demand as more and
more children need treatment.
With the drought and
resulting food shortage expected to continue well into 2016,
a total USD $21 million (approx. NZD $32 million) is now
urgently needed to provide a six-month supply of emergency
food rations for 300,000 people in eight districts where
ChildFund works, covering the purchase of grain, pulses and
cooking oil, as well as transport costs. Out of this, USD $5
million (approx. NZD $7.6 million) will provide
supplementary food and cooking oil for the 100,000 people
who are most vulnerable, with a particular focus on
preventing and treating malnutrition in young
children.
ChildFund has worked in Ethiopia for more than
40 years and is deeply committed to continuing progress for
children’s wellbeing and development, says Paul
Brown.
“In recent years, the Ethiopian government has
worked hard to
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