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East Africa: worst drought in fifty years

2016 was the third year in a row that the Spring Rains failed to come to the Horn of Africa, threatening a population of around 30 million people. As drought ravages communities across South Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya, it has caused mass migration as people have left their homes in search of food and water, and the spread of disease, including diarrhoea and measles. Moreover, in environments of such stress and insecurity, violence and exploitation are also rife.

Children bear the brunt of this suffering. In Ethiopia alone in April 2016, six million were believed to be at risk of starvation and without access to clean water.

In search for food and water

In Ethiopia, which is typical as to the scale and depth of our response across the region, Save the Children works in more than 100 stabilisation centres. We treat malnutrition to ensure it does not become so severe that it affects a child’s entire future.

We’re also helping families with food vouchers and access to clean water and supporting pregnant women with the nutrition they need to deliver healthy babies. We protect children from diseases, which are spreading rapidly in environments where children have low natural resistance. Our mobile health units support treatment and medical centres with expertise, medical equipment and supplies and clean water.

Ethiopia has made huge progress in becoming a more prosperous and stable country over the past 20 years and has been able to respond more robustly than before to this crisis. But this is the worst drought in 50 years.

Our work, in partnership with the Ethiopian government, is not only saving lives here and now, but also safeguarding all of Ethiopia’s progress for the future.

While we took significant action in 2016, the effects of the drought are continuing across the region and not enough resources are currently focused on the problem. The UN target was US$1.62 billion in 2016, and by the end of the year, the international community had only raised US$503 million. This gap shows the current difficulty of securing enough funding for slow-onset disasters, especially as they begin to last longer and take place more frequently.

Malou

"Four-year-old Malou from Ethiopa was severely underweight and has been treated for malnutrition and pneumonia."

In April 2016

6m

Ethiopian children were at risk of starvation and without access to clean water