News Briefs: March 9, 2006
Tens of thousands face death in drought-hit Somalia
Drought-stricken Somalia is facing a new famine on the scale of the catastrophe that killed tens of thousands of people in the early 1990s. If the rains do not come, more than 10,000 people could die each month, said Nicholas Haan, chief technical advisor for the Food Security Analysis Unit, a project of the European Union and the US government.
There are at least 1.7 million Somalis affected by drought in a population of 10 million. “This is manifesting itself as what could be a major humanitarian catastrophe of historic nature,” Haan said.
Hundreds of people and tens of thousands of livestock have died from hunger and thirst across a vast region encompassing some of Africa’s poorest and most arid zones.
Experts have said recent heavy rains in central and east Africa were not the start of the rainy season and drought conditions would persist.
The United Nations estimates that at least 6.25 million people are in need of immediate food aid across east and central Africa because of drought.
—With reports from Reuters AlertNet
ACT responding to drought in Kenya
The food shortage caused by a drought in parts of Kenya is quickly reaching a crisis stage, with the World Food Program warning of “absolutely catastrophic” consequences if aid is not delivered to some areas in a matter of days.
Kirsten Engebak, area representative for Kenya, Somalia and Uganda for Action by Churches Together (ACT) member Norwegian Church Aid (NCA), reports that animals are dying by the thousands, and their carcasses lie scattered across the countryside. It is estimated that around 60 percent of livestock in the area has already died.
NCA, along with four other ACT members and their partners in Kenya, are already responding to the worsening situation. Working with RACIDA in central and western Mandera, NCA is assisting drought-affected communities with access to water for human and livestock use and in finding better ways to grow crops in order to help the communities lessen the effects of the current and future droughts.
“I heard stories of families that once had owned 300 animals but who were now left with only two or three. This was more the norm than the exception. I did not see one blade of grass or one healthy tree during my journey of 230 kilometers through the desert. With no food for the animals, there is also no food for the pastoralists who mainly live on milk from the goats and camels. They are starving,” reports Engebak.
Engebak visited the only hospital in Mandera for the area’s population of 300,000 where she saw nine-month-old babies who weighed no more than three kilograms. Many of them, she reports, had tuberculosis, malaria or respiratory problems due to a weakened immune system brought on by long-term malnutrition.
She says that previously, the nearest water sources were four kilometers away, but now many people have to walk two to three times that distance to find a well that still contains water. “Once there, they often have to wait up to 18 hours to fill their containers—and then walk the long distance home with a heavy load.”
The ACT members participating in the ACT appeal for Kenya are: the Anglican Church of Kenya, Church World Service, The Lutheran World Federation Kenya/Sudan program, Lutheran World Relief, and Norwegian Church Aid.
—Report from ACT International
Change Makers Assembly to raise the issue of Violence Against Women
In the first ever effort in South Asia to raise the issue of violence against women, as many as 800 change makers from six South Asian nations are gathering in Colombo, Sri Lanka, from March 7-9 to share their experiences on the efforts made in their countries towards ending such violence. Change Makers from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka will be attending the event.
The aim of the regional event is to draw attention to the issue of violence against women in the region and enable sharing and deliberation of effective strategies adopted by different stakeholders to meet the challenge.
By 2011, the campaign plans to reach and influence 50 million ordinary women and men across South Asia to oppose violence against women.
The campaign was born out of the necessity to change the attitude and practices of the society towards violence against women. Studies reveal that in the South Asia region one in every two women face violence in their homes and 60% of women in Sri Lanka suffer domestic violence.
—With reports from Reuters AlertNet
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