The worst East African drought conditions in 50 years have left more than 13 million people in urgent need of assistance, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) is working with various other organizations to coordinate the distribution of aid in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Uganda.
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The Horn of Africa has experienced two consecutive drought seasons during the past two years, resulting in extreme food shortages in the area. In Somalia, the situation is compounded by civil unrest.
Church Relief Efforts
As part of its emergency response efforts, the Church is working on a humanitarian aid package and coordinating with several groups to reach as many people as possible.
Ethiopia
In Ethiopia, projects to aid more than 100,000 refugees are under way, including water tanks, trucking services, sanitation supplies and hygiene training for 15 villages; supplementary food for 8,700 malnourished children; nutrition centers and sanitation facilities for Somali refugees in Dollo Ado; and 5,000 hygiene kits.
The Church also plans to provide water catchment and storage structures, as well as soap and washbasins to serve tens of thousands of other residents in the communities surrounding the Dollo Ado camps.
Kenya
Church humanitarian aid plans for Kenya include an agreement to provide medicines, medical supplies and health posts that will allow partner organizations to provide medical care and feeding to an estimated 90,000 Somali refugees in the Dadaab camp complex.
The Church is also coordinating with Kenya’s Ministry of State for Special Programmes to assess and respond to needs in the northern drought-stricken districts.
Somalia
In Somalia, the Church is working through partners to fund the purchase and distribution of food staples to 3,000 internally displaced families living in camps in the Mogadishu area.
Future plans include a partnership to provide emergency water solutions to seven villages (14,000 people) and medications to 15 hospitals and clinics in the Gedo region bordering Ethiopia.
Uganda
Approximately 20,000 drought victims in Uganda will benefit from five containers of Atmit, a nutritional supplement used to feed the severely malnourished, which are being distributed by the Church in partnership with the Minister of Relief, Disaster Preparedness and Refugees.
Read more about the East Africa famine situation at LDS.org’s Church News and Events page – a news resource written primarily for Latter-day Saints.