Horn of Africa hunger crisis
More than 8 million people are still in urgent need of assistance in the Horn of Africa after the worst drought the region has seen for 60 years.
To date Mercy Corps teams in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia have helped 1.6 million people caught in the grip of the crisis:
- We’ve given 42,000 children emergency food and medical care to keep them alive.
- We’ve given 472,500 people clean water when they needed it most.
- We’ve given 26,000 families cash to buy the food and essential supplies that are right for them.
- We’ve created temporary jobs repairing water storage points and clearing roads; run mobile medical clinics to reach those with no alternative; and helped to keep families in their own homes, so they don’t have to leave everything for life in tent camps.
All stories about Horn of Africa hunger crisis
-
Ethiopia: Finding her way through drought May 16, 2013
Fatumo lost ten camels in the drought that ravaged Ethiopia two years ago. She grew more desperate as her children went hungry. But today there are signs of recovery — and Fatumo is relying on each day's collection of milk to rebuild.
-
Ethiopia: A little laughter, a lot of water November 12, 2012
Anab and her friends are getting a kick out of photographer Joni Kabana, who is visiting Mercy Corps programmes in Ethiopia this week.
-
Ethiopia: Coping with drought by building peace October 18, 2012
We sent out a team to research why one drought-stricken community was coping so well. The findings were striking: When local conflict had been addressed, people were far better equipped to survive the drought.
-
Ethiopia: Feeding hungry babies October 11, 2012
In Ida Adays village, our mobile health team weighed seven-month-old Nasteho Mohamed and found her to be malnourished. She weighed only 4kg, but at her age should be somewhere around 4.8kg.
-
Ethiopia: A nomadic life inspires mobile health work September 24, 2012
Mohamed Shariff Ali ("Mali") works around the clock these days overseeing Mercy Corps health and resilience programmes in Ethiopia. But when he was growing up, he remembers life revolving around three things: the animals, the weather and the seasons.
-
Somalia: Water provides new freedom for displaced women August 2, 2012
“Not only do we now have clean water to drink and cook with, we actually have more time to take care of our kids and perform other household chores,” says Dofo.
-
Ethiopia: One year later, helping children survive in the Horn of Africa July 25, 2012
You might hear it called a “slow onset” emergency because, unlike the sudden strike of an earthquake, drought builds gradually. But don’t bother telling that to the mothers whose children are hanging on by a thread; slow isn’t the word they would choose. Grueling, they might say. Nerve-wracking.
-
Ethiopia: Rebuilding a community water source May 8, 2012
Emergency response programme manager Kaja Wislinska speaks to community members who are repairing a pond too damaged to hold water. It is now a working water source for the 400 households in Ada Olaa village.
-
‘We Can Be Heroes’ campaign for the Horn of Africa launches in New York City January 23, 2012
Yesterday, entertainment executives and NGO leaders came together at Time Warner Centre to bring attention back to the continuing drought and hunger crisis in the Horn of Africa.