International aid organization Oxfam says more than 15 million people in the Horn of Africa region need assistance because of an ongoing drought, with lives at risk because lessons learned from drought conditions earlier this decade are being ignored. Parts of Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia are affected again after sparse…
The Australian arm of global NGO Plan International says that when it comes to East Africa’s drought and food shortage, there’s often a wide gap between perception and reality when appealing to donors. The organization says it sampled 100 social media comments posted to stories about the crisis and the…
Drought and famine are contributing to an uptick in piracy off the Horn of Africa, according to remarks made by the American general in command of Africa during a weekend visit to Djibouti. “There have in the last month been four or five, maybe six piracy attacks here in the…
Pope Francis, delivering the traditional “Urbi et Orbi” message on Easter Sunday, emphasized the plight of migrants and the displaced while encouraging hope for Africans living in troubled nations. The pope’s annual message followed Easter Mass at St. Peter’s Square in Rome, during which the Roman Catholic Church leader affirmed…
The death toll in a Mogadishu car bombing has risen to eight people, with several others injured. Radio Shabelle in Somalia said that Wednesday’s explosion at a restaurant in the capital happened near the Ministry of Youth and Sports. The bomb destroyed the Coffee Break restaurant and caused chaos in…
The South Sudanese government has denied that it is deliberately preventing humanitarian assistance from reaching civilians in conflict zones. Martin Elia Lomuro, cabinet affairs minister for the famine- and conflict-stricken nation, refuted allegations made by the United States suggesting that the ongoing suffering of 100,000 people affected by famine –…
United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’Brien visited Mogadishu on Monday, speaking with residents at the Zone K Internal Displacement Camp Settlement as representatives of the international community evaluated Somalia’s deepening humanitarian crisis. O’Brien, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), was joined by Michael…
As the humanitarian situation in South Sudan further deteriorates, the United Nations and partner organizations are appealing for help in dealing with the looming risk of famine and the ongoing suffering. Humanitarian groups estimate there are now 7.5 million people across South Sudan needing assistance and protection. The conflict that…
The United Nations has called for immediate access to conflict affected areas in South Sudan in order to prevent “catastrophe”. “Since fighting broke out nearly two years ago, children have been plagued by conflict, disease, fear and hunger,” the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) representative in South Sudan, Jonathan Veitch,…