The hardest hit is Somalia with internal violence from armed groups, famine, an insufficient supply of drinking water, unbearable heat in some locations and long-term drought simultaneously impacting the population. With thousands walking sometimes weeks on end to try to find relief, some of them are being robbed of all possessions by bandits while en route to Ethiopia or Kenya.
This and related
problems should be more concretely addressed in a global-scale war on
poverty. If the issues of poverty were more seriously and adequately
addressed, the 925 million people who presently live in hunger and the many million
of children who have already died every year before reaching their fifth
birthday could have found relief.
In Asian, African and Latin American countries, well over 500 million people are living in what the World Bank calls "absolute poverty". Every year 15 million children die of hunger. I know there will be one or two who will say "why should I care?" It would seem that the onus is on them to answer the question: "Why don't you care?"
All told, twelve million of the refugees are in danger of
starvation and, according to UNICEF, one million children
are at risk to die. Moreover, the continued lack of rainfall this year and the
drastic rise in the price of corn, the food staple for East Africa, mean this
humanitarian crisis will continue for some time to come. Meanwhile, drought
conditions are expected to continue for the next three months
exacerbating an already drastic and nearly hopeless
situation.In Asian, African and Latin American countries, well over 500 million people are living in what the World Bank calls "absolute poverty". Every year 15 million children die of hunger. I know there will be one or two who will say "why should I care?" It would seem that the onus is on them to answer the question: "Why don't you care?"
Organizations helping drought victims in Africa:
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