| Somalian Drought: World's Worst Humanitarian Crisis |
13 million people are still struggling to survive in the Horn of Africa after the worst drought the region has seen for 60 years.
Huge numbers of Somalis have been forced out of their homes by an insurgency that has been raging since the start of 2007. Much of the fighting now is between government forces and gunmen loyal to hardline group al Shabaab. Years of anarchy since the fall of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991, combined with frequent drought and rampant inflation, have turned Somalia into one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.
To date Mercy Corps teams in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia have helped 1.5 million people caught in the grip of the crisis:
According to the U.N
- 42,000 children emergency food and medical care to keep them alive.
- 472,500 people clean water when they needed it most.
- 26,000 families cash to buy the food and essential supplies that are right for them.
- Created temporary jobs repairing water storage points and clearing roads; run mobile medical clinics to reach those with no alternative; and helped to keep families in their own homes, so they do not have to leave everything for life in tent camps.
But there is still so much to do. While rains at the end of 2011 brought relief for some in the short term, it was not enough to restore lost cropland and livestock, correct soaring food prices and shortages, or reverse the chronic malnourishment that so many are suffering from.
We are on the ground doing everything we can, not just to help people survive in the short term, but also to help people build their resilience to future cycles of drought and food shortages, finding new ways to earn money and diversify their income, improve the health of their animals and better manage their water supplies.
The United Nations relief efforts in the region.
They starve for water. A man washing his hands and face in Cow's urine.
People getting treatment at a UN Medical camp.
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