40-year-old Sahra is a mother of 11 children. She used to be a farmer before the drought, but now, struggles to provide for her family, as the drought has completely dried up her farm. In her interview, Sarah speaks about why the current drought is the worst in her lifetime, and the impact it is having on her family.

Soaring inflation and the rise in cost of goods and services is affecting thousands of people around the world right now, especially those in countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan and Somaliland.

The wider impact of droughts and floods as part of climate change, Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine has had a knock-on effect on the availability of resources such as oil, gas and grains like wheat across the world.

Rising food prices are already affecting how Muslims are preparing for Ramadan. Families and children are facing dwindling food supplies and limited access to heating, shelter and clean water.

Each year we run a Ramadan appeal raising money to support our work with the most vulnerable communities around the world.

At ActionAid, we already work in some of the countries affected by the cost of living crisis such as Afghanistan, Somaliland and others to provide water and food like rice, flour, lentils, beans oil, salt and sugar. 

We are also helping improve the long-term conditions for families living in poverty by building wells, providing education, and supporting people to rebuild their lives after a disatser. But we need your help to reach as many people as possible.

Start your Sadaqah Jariyah this Ramadan and reap the rewards of this holy month. Together we can provide immediate and year-round support to families and children in crisis. 

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How your monthly gift makes a difference

Your donation could help families around the world this Ramadan and after. 

 

Donation value

£10 per month

could provide food supplies like rice, lentils, oil, and sugar.

£7 per month

could provide energy-efficient stoves for four families.

£3 per month

could provide a solar lamp so that a girl can study at night.

Or choose your own amount to give

£
per month
Arrow

How your monthly gift makes a difference

Your donation could help families around the world this Ramadan and after. 

 

Donation value

£10 per month

could provide food supplies like rice, lentils, oil, and sugar.

£7 per month

could provide energy-efficient stoves for four families.

£3 per month

could provide a solar lamp so that a girl can study at night.

Or choose your own amount to give

£
per month

Ramadan FAQs

Hunger in Somaliland

Amina, 90, has survived 12 droughts in her lifetime, but says the current situation in Somaliland, is the worst she’s experienced.

Amina has seen first hand the devastation caused by the drought in her hometown.

“The drought has hit us hard. We have no water. Fuel is very expensive. We used to eat sorghum, rice, pasta and macaroni. But now we do not have the money to buy these foods. We are starving,” she said.

Families are only able to access one working well once every seven days. Some resort to digging holes with their bare hands in search of water, but more often than not, they find dirty, muddy water.

Like Amina, millions of others around the world are struggling with disasters, conflicts and crises that are affecting their food and water supplies. Now rising food and energy prices are pushing families to the brink of survival.

You can help us reach people like Amina. ActionAid is working with communities around the world to provide food, water, build wells, and help rebuild livelihoods.

Donate this Ramadan

Our previous Ramadan appeals

In 2022, you helped raise funds for communities struggling with climate change. 

Around the world, millions of people are facing hunger. Droughts, floods, soaring temperatures, conflict and existing poverty in countries like Somaliland, Ethiopia, Afghanistan and Bangladesh are leading to severe food and water shortages around the world.

But your donations are helping to ensure women like Amina, pictured, can access water and rebuild their livelihoods.

Lack of rain and rising temperatures in recent years have meant that Amina's livestock no longer has much pasture to graze on. In addition to selling milk from her livestock, Amina is also dependent on her crops, and without water, she has lost their entire livelihood.

She says: "I have seen severe droughts for the last few years, [but] in my view, this is the worst drought."

Give Sadaqah during Ramadan on any time of the year to help women like Amina. 

The role of Ramadan is undeniable in showing what co-operation, empathy, and respect for one another other can do in building bonds of friendship, equality and unity in the Muslim world.

It is what incredible charities such as ActionAid – who already have a proven track record in working with the most vulnerable of communities – have been doing for many years, with great success. Not only do they provide immediate, humanitarian aid but they also stay back and work together with communities to provide long-term, sustainable solutions.

Abdul Shiil, Trustee, ActionAid UK

Hunger in Somaliland

Asha, 35, was forced to move to a camp for internally displaced people in Somaliland after losing her livestock in the drought.

Asha and her family depended on the livestock for a source of income and to provide food for the family – meat, milk and butter. Now, she says, she struggles to provide even two meals a day and regularly has to walk to the nearest city to try to get food on credit or money from relatives to help them meet their basic needs.

Despite the challenging circumstances they are living in though, she stays optimistic, telling her children that they will overcome the current situation and return to the way they used to live.

Donate this Ramadan

Asha is a 35-year-old pastoralist and single mother of three. She lives in an IDP camp in Somaliland

Khadija Farah/ActionAid

Sagal, a 40 year-old pregnant mother of two, living in an IDP camp in Somaliland.

Daniel Jukes/ActionAid

Drought affecting livelihoods

Sagal, 40, is a mother of two and is currently eight-months pregnant, living with her husband in camp for internally displaced people in Somaliland.

The need for support is urgent, especially as often mothers skip their own meals to feed their children once a day.

“Every mother is feeling sorrow when her children are eating only once a day and don't eat the other two times. I feel sorrow every day...our needs are great, and we can't afford more than one meal a day and our shelter doesn’t protect us from the sun or the cold.”

Sagal also shared that she prepares black tea for her and her children to cope with the agonising hunger between meals.

“Our previous life was good. I had 100 livestock and got milk from the livestock to drink, feed the children, or sell to buy other needed food items... now all our livestock is gone.”

Help women like Sagal

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Image: 40-year-old Sahra used to be a farmer before the drought, but now, struggles to provide for her family, as the drought has completely dried up her farm. Credit: Khadija Farah/ActionAid

Page updated 3 April 2023