East Africa Cannot Wait
The Horn of Africa is experiencing its fifth season without rain. As poverty and rising living costs are affecting millions on a global scale, it is becoming increasingly harder to survive, especially when dealing with droughts and famines.
In Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia, a person dies from starvation every 48 seconds on average. At least 10 million children are facing severe drought conditions and over 7 million people have had to leave their homes in search of food. This is a humanitarian crisis on a devastating scale.
As communities are scattered and access to food, shelter and healthcare become harder to find, is it extremely important that the UK and international governments work together to prevent the further loss of life in these regions.
On Monday 17 October, NGOs, charities, and youth activists came together in Parliament Square to encourage the government to respond to this emergency. Staff from together with the 2022 cohort of students from the Year in Service and Mission at Newbold College, joined fellow charities, Action Against Hunger (who organised the event), Oxfam, Save the Children, and many others to protest this crisis and held up clocks to show that time is up, and action must be taken urgently.
Bert Smit, CEO of ADRA-UK said, “East Africa cannot wait, and neither can the government’s response to this emergency. NGOs must advocate to ensure that funding is provided for food security in the region. The Horn of Africa has no oil. No gas. No natural resources of interest to the West. If is a forgotten corner of the world and yet it is here where one of the world’s worst disasters is involving. Hunger is wreaking havoc and the world has forgotten about it. We need to act NOW to help those that need our help the most!’
https://adventist.uk/news/article/go/2022-09-29/adra-uk-joins-ngos-to-lobby-government-on-horn-of-africa/
