April 26, 2000,
NEW YORK CITY Concerned to respond in time to the drought-induced famine menacing
15 million people across east Africa, Church World Service has launched an initial $1
million campaign for food aid and agricultural support for Ethiopia and projects a broader
program soon.
More than 15
million people in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan, Kenya, Djibouti, Uganda, Burundi,
Rwanda and Tanzania are facing a humanitarian crisis of serious proportions, according to
the World Food Program. The most seriously
affected populations are farmers in southern and eastern Ethiopia, Somalia and northern
Kenya. In Ethiopia alone, more than 8
million people are severely affected, many of them women and children.
If the
international community can get supplies to their destination quickly, we are hopeful this
famine will avoid the level of desperation it reached in the 1980s, said Willis
Logan, who directs the CWS Africa Program.
Ethiopias churches stand ready and
organized to respond quickly, he said. In
1984, Ethiopias churches and two church-related international non-governmental
organizations established the Joint Relief Partnership and have kept it operational. This time around, the partnership proposes to
cover the emergency needs of nearly 800,000 vulnerable persons -- roughly 10 percent of
the Ethiopian governments total appeal for help.
The global ecumenical community, through ACT
(Action by Churches Together), intends to raise $32 million in support for the
partnership, including Church World Services $1 million. Funds will cover both supplementary food aid and
an agricultural component to assist survivors in re-establishing food reserves by
providing seeds, fertilizers, farm tools, draft animals and pond excavation along with
water and animal fodder.
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