Food crisis: emergency appeal for children in Ethiopia
Save the Children is appealing for US$20 million to help around 900,000 people, including 325,000 children, who are bearing the brunt of the food crisis in Ethiopia.
Wednesday 18 June 2008
Our emergency response includes providing nearly 50,000 children with life-saving high-energy foods through emergency feeding centres.
Children in some of the poorest areas of the country are already struggling to survive on wild nettles. Around 75,000 children are severely malnourished and could die if they do not receive emergency treatment.
A combination of drought and escalating food prices has left 4.6 million people urgently in need of food in Ethiopia. Around 759,000 of these are children under the age of five, a group which is particularly vulnerable to effects of malnutrition such as weight loss and disease.
Ken Caldwell, International Operations Director for Save the Children UK, said:
"Hunger hits children first and hits them hardest. Ethiopian children, who are going hungry because their parents can’t afford to feed them, will be among the first victims of the global food price rises.
"We know some of the poorest families have no food left and are struggling to survive on wild nettles. Livestock are dying and families are having to split up in search of food.
"Parents across the country are being forced to take drastic measures to survive. Many have been forced to stop their children going to school so they can help the family earn money for food. Others are having to sell their animals and essential tools just so they can get their next meal."
Caldwell continued: "We urgently need to stop this situation getting worse. This emergency appeal will help Save the Children save lives now and provide long-term support to vulnerable families."
The hardest hit areas are in the arid south of the country, including Oromia, the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region (SNNPR) and Somali Region.
The problems the poorest households face in trying to grow food are being compounded by the dramatic increases in food prices in recent months. Many parents are both short of food and unable to afford to buy more to make up the shortfall to feed their families.
What we're doing
With more than 800 people on the ground, Save the Children is launching a major emergency response in six of the worst-affected areas in Ethiopia to deliver life-saving health, nutrition, agricultural, sanitation and child protection assistance to suffering communities.
Our emergency work includes:
- running emergency feeding centres, to provide around 48,000 children with high-energy foods as part of an intensive feeding programme
- helping around 250,000 children and their families to keep their animals alive by providing veterinary drugs and animal feed
- setting up work schemes which will provide parents with a way to earn food and money
- providing emergency health care, clean water, and sanitation items such as soap to nearly 160,000 children
How you can help
Your money can help Save the Children provide life-saving assistance to hundreds of thousands of Ethiopian children.
-
20p will buy one sachet of oral rehydration salts for a malnourished child
-
£1 will buy a litre of vegetable oil for a family
-
£10 will cover one month emergency nutrition feeding for a malnourished child
-
£30 will feed a family of five for a month
-
£90 will buy six goats for a poor family to provide milk and meat for their children and sell the surplus for extra income
-
£1,500 will build a well that can provide water for 500 people and 4000 animals
Donate to Save the Children's Ethiopia Food Crisis Emergency Appeal online or by calling 0800 8148 148.
More information
Read more about the Ethiopia food crisis
