International agency Oxfam is airlifting 47 tonnes of vital water supply and hygiene materials to Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, as the aid community scales up its effort to bring relief to the drought-stricken country.
We're increasing our emergency response in Somalia, providing water, shelter and other aid to thousands fleeing deadly new violence in the country’s capital. War, drought and malnutrition are thrusting Somalia towards even greater catastrophe.
This week, Oxfam Ambassador Actress Scarlett Johansson visited Kenya to see the devastating impact of the drought in East Africa. More than 13 million people are at risk because of a severe drought that has hit parts of Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia. In Somalia, the crisis has escalated to a famine.
New military escalation in Somalia risks harming civilians and undermining efforts to recover from famine, Oxfam said, as the AU military force (AMISOM) and the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) launched a major new offensive in an area where 400,000 people are living in densely populated camps.
Oxfam says governments and donors must act with greater urgency in the face of a deteriorating crisis and rising needs in East Africa. Donors must move beyond promises and immediately turn money pledged into action on the ground, as more than half a million people are at risk of starvation.