In late August of this year, CAAP encouraged the Arab American community and beyond to give what resources they could to help assuage the growing humanitarian disaster in the Horn of Africa – specifically Somalia. Two months on, the situation is just as harrowing and complicated as ever.
One.org reports that 30,000 children have died in three months (April-July) of Somalia’s famine, caused in part by the worst drought in 60 years, as well as more than 20 years of civil war.
Currently, 13 million people are at risk of starvation. The situation has only been made worse in recent weeks by abductions of tourists and aid workers in Kenya, and heightened tensions between the militant group Al-Shabaab and the Kenyan government. The devastation will certainly take time to alleviate, and can be helped along by access to clean water and food, better irrigation, and improved medical care in the region.
Fortunately, we can all help provide some of the basic survival necessities to those suffering, including thousands of Somali women and children. If you’d like to contribute, please visit CAAP’s website for our recommendations of international aid agencies that are actively combating Somalia’s current crisis. All of the organizations that we have listed have a solid track record of working effectively in the Horn of Africa.