As many of you know, the worst drought in 60 years has devastated communities throughout the Horn of Africa, leaving more than 13 million people in a state of crisis—greater than the population of Los Angeles and New York combined. In Somalia—where twenty years of war and violence has limited humanitarian access and destroyed the country’s [...]
Tag archives for Horn of Africa
Horn of Africa Update
Each week USAID produces a fact sheet (pdf, 211kb) with updates on the drought in the Horn of Africa. These fact sheets provide background information about the crisis, key recent developments, data on U.S. humanitarian assistance to the region, and public donation information. We’ll now be featuring the key developments of the week on our [...]
Famine Spreads in Somalia
Nancy Lindborg is USAID’s Assistant Administrator for the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance. Today the U.N. declared ongoing famine in the Bay Region, adding to the five areas in southern Somalia already facing famine conditions. The U.N. also increased the number of Somalis in crisis to 4 million and says that 750,000 are [...]
Peeling Potatoes With Grace
Recently, a group of 10 bloggers traveled with ONE to Kenya. This trip was the first step in cultivating the amazing energy of thousands of American moms who have the power to help save millions of lives through simple actions they can take from right where they are. Cross-posted from Coming Alive Imagine being a [...]
USAID in the News
Weekly Briefing (8/22/2011 – 8/26/2011) August 23: In an op-ed published in The Huffington Post, USAID Administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah highlighted the recent DevelopmentXChange event, which brought together 77 grant finalists to share their innovative ideas to discover the next breakthrough in maternal and infant health. The event was part of Saving Lives at Birth: [...]
Smart Compassion: How Donating Cash Helps More People
When disaster strikes overseas, people who want to help may begin collecting items intended for use in relief operations. It is not unusual for community and civic groups to have collected thousands of pounds of material – typically used clothing, canned food and bottled water – realizing only afterward that they do not know to [...]
From Emergency Aid to Economic Empowerment
Last week, I traveled with four of my USAID colleagues to a drought-stricken area of Ethiopia as part of a larger visit to the Horn of Africa region. The worst drought the region has seen in 60 years has put more than 12.4 million people in Somalia, Kenya, Djibouti, and Ethiopia in need of urgent [...]
On World Humanitarian Day, 100 Ways You Can Help Victims of the East Africa Drought
Today is World Humanitarian Day. Reaching out to those suffering from crisis and disaster is a fundamental human impulse and a deeply enshrined American value. It is a value we share with people around the globe. It is the silver lining of any crisis, when the best of who we are as people emerges just [...]
A Mother’s Bond: My Visit to an Ethiopian Therapeutic Feeding Camp
I have a one-year-old little girl at home, just like Aisha, the mother I photographed during my visit to the drought-impacted region of Ethiopia. Just like this Aisha, I hope that I am nourishing my daughter’s body, mind, and spirit by providing her everything within my means. Unlike Aisha, my daughter weighs nearly three times [...]
Mobilizing Resources to Assist East African Drought
On August 11, 2011, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke at the International Food Policy Research Institute on the drought crisis in East Africa, the U.S. response, and the efforts underway to raise funding for relief efforts. [Full transcript and video of her remarks.] She announced that the United States would provide an additional $17 [...]
