£90 million UK aid for East Africa: ActionAid response

20 June 2017

ActionAid Media Centre

Contact us

Tel: +44  7753 973 486 (including out of hours)

All media contact details

ActionAid head of humanitarian response, Mike Noyes, commenting on new UK funding to tackle the hunger crisis in Somalia and Ethiopia, said: 


“The UK government is making a vital effort to provide desperately needed food to some of the worst hit areas of East Africa and we support Priti Patel’s ongoing commitment to the region.
 
“We are now hearing from our partners in Somaliland that the rains look likely to fail yet again, making it impossible to grow the food people need. As a result, we call on the UK government to ensure its support reaches the whole of Somalia, including regions like Sool and Sanaag in Somaliland, where needs are extremely high. Children are dying while mothers watch in despair, women and girls are at increased risk of violence and exploitation, and there are reports of a severe outbreak of an acute watery diarrhoea in some of the areas worst affected by the drought. 
 
“We also remain deeply concerned about the situation in parts of Kenya, which remains chronically underfunded. Countless lives are at stake and more needs to be done before it’s too late. While the world has responded to the warnings, still not enough is being done and we fear many lives are being lost every day as a result.”


Ends