Aid agency helps 500,000 people in famine-hit Horn of Africa

AID from an Irish humanitarian agency has reached more than half a million people stricken by famine in the Horn of Africa.

Concern Worldwide revealed it has already helped 200,000 people in Somalia, 260,000 in Ethiopia and 100,000 in Kenya.

Public donations to Concern have already topped €2.6 million, with an estimated €2m also going to Trócaire.

Chief executive Tom Arnold said: “We are working 24/7 to scale up what we are doing to meet the challenges of this catastrophe.

“Having just returned from the region, I can testify that reaching half a million people is a significant achievement given the very difficult circumstances.”

Aid agencies say the region’s drought is one of the worst in years, affecting up to 12 million people.

Thousands of Somali refugees are flooding into camps in Ethiopia and Kenya in search of food after months without rain decimated livestock and killed crops in their homeland.

The Government, which has provided almost €7m in aid, has sent a shipment of shelter materials, cooking utensils and mosquito nets to Concern in Mogadishu, Somalia.

The charity is also running emergency feeding programmes in all three countries, as well as water and sanitation projects.

“The Irish public have once again been outstanding in contributing significantly to our response to this crisis and we’d like to thank them for that,” Mr Arnold said.

“But we’d also urge people to keep supporting us, as this crisis is not going away any time soon.

“At this point in time, it is clear that we still want to reach more people.”

* To donate call 1850 410 510 or visit online at concern.net/drought.