Drought. The rainy season is skipped. And then again. Livestock are dying. Cows, goats, even camels. A lack of food, medicine, and drinking water. Children are dying. Roughly 30,000. Mainly those who still cannot walk yet. Twelve million people in East Africa are in danger. Famine. And humanitarian workers warn: it can be even worse.

The affected region has been hit by the worst drought in the last sixty years. Famine threatens millions of people—especially in Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya. The situation is critical mainly in Somalia, where the UN declared a famine situation in multiple areas on July 20. Even after three months, the situation had not improved.

In southern and central Somalia, humanitarian organizations have great difficulty reaching people who need help. The area is controlled by the Islamic militant movement al-Shabab, which prevents rescue teams from doing their work. Food convoys are often ambushed and end up in the hands of rebels.

In the area, tens of thousands of people have already died, and the death toll could climb to frightening figures. "If help does not arrive, there is a justified risk that 750,000 people will die within four months," warned the UN.

"To be frank, we cannot help many Somalis—we cannot get to them," said Unni Karunakara from the organization Lekári bez hraníc to the BBC. "We call it a last-mile problem. We can transport food and medicine to Somali ports, but getting it from there to the people is very difficult," he added.

This is also why Slovak organizations are directing their aid mainly to neighboring countries. "Operating in Somalia requires capacities that no Slovak NGO has. You need millions of dollars, aircraft, trucks, satellite phones. It is more like a military operation," explains Allan Bussard, director of the Slovak Foundation Integra.

There are only two exceptions. Slovak UNICEF sends collected funds to the Geneva headquarters, which uses them in Somalia. Slovak Catholic Charity, on the other hand, is a member of the international organization Caritas Internationalis and on projects in Somalia cooperates with German and domestic organizations.

Most Slovak NGOs direct humanitarian aid to Kenya. Missing two rainy periods have robbed local small farmers there of what little livelihood remained and sharply raised food prices. People have begun to suffer from hunger and malnutrition. In addition, hundreds of thousands of exhausted refugees from Somalia have arrived in both Kenya and Ethiopia. The largest refugee camp complex in the world, in Dadaab, Kenya, is overcrowded.

Organization Magna Deti v núdzi is therefore opening a children’s health center in Garissa district, where Dadaab is also located, including an inpatient section for the most severe cases. "In addition, we are running eight outpatient points," reports Michal Borec from Magna, which has a representative posted in Garissa.

Človek v ohrození used funds from a public collection for distributing drinking water in refugee camps in Kenya. It helps from afar, through a partner organization. "The costs of starting our own activities would absorb a large part of the fund," explains Marcela Ondeková from Človek v ohrození.

Nadácia Integra is active in Ethiopia as well as Kenya. "Everyone is waiting for rain," Bussard says after returning from Kenya and Ethiopia. He shows photos from Ethiopia. A dried-up country, with trees standing here and there, but no trace of grass. Almost like a desert.

"It is very dry. People are leaving their homes and building temporary shelters near towns where there is a water source. Many, however, cannot access aid because they are too weak. It is very difficult to even find out about them—roads are missing and access to mobile networks or the internet is limited," Bussard describes.

In the area 90 percent of cattle have already died. NGOs buy the remaining animals; local farmers get very little for the emaciated cattle on the market. When it rains again and grass grows back, humanitarian organizations sell them back to their original owners for a symbolic amount.

Even the long-awaited rain, however, will not end the crisis. The next harvest will be in a few months. Herders have lost most of their animals, which were their source of income. In addition, with the arrival of rains, an outbreak of malaria, measles, dengue fever, cholera, and other diseases is expected, against which weakened bodies will be unable to resist.

"This also happened during the famine twenty years ago. Despite massive food aid, many people still died during the rainy season because there were insufficient medical capacities," warns Anna Beňová from UNICEF Slovensko. That is why, even with the arrival of rains, the crisis in East Africa will not end...

Maroš Szücs

How Slovakia helps

Slovenská katolícka charita collected over 156,000 euros from the public fundraiser by early October. Part of that was used mainly for food aid in Somalia and Kenya.

Magna Deti v núdzi had collected almost 92,000 euros by early October, and also received a 20,000-euro contribution from SlovakAid. The association is opening a health center with inpatient beds and eight outpatient facilities in Kenya, providing therapeutic nutrition, medicines, and professional care for malnourished children.

Nadácia Integra collected almost 13,000 euros from the public fundraiser by the end of September, and in addition received 20,000 euros from SlovakAid. The money was used to buy medicines for children and pregnant women and to distribute water-cleaning kits in Ethiopia.

UNICEF Slovensko collected over 22,000 euros by September 21. Through UNICEF’s Geneva headquarters, the money mainly went to supporting child nutrition centers, distributing drinking water and food, healthcare, and immunizations.

Človek v ohrození collected 13,500 euros in the public fundraiser. It used it for the distribution of drinking water in refugee camps in Kenya.

Vysoká škola sv. Alžbety received a 20,000-euro grant from SlovakAid. It used it for food for undernourished children in Kenya and plans to send two social workers to Ethiopia.

eRko - Dobrá novina, from the proceeds of a traditional carol-collection campaign, sent 20,000 euros to its long-time partners in Turkane in northern Kenya to provide food and medical aid.

This article was published in the Rozvojová pomoc - Jeseň 2011 bulletin. It is issued by Platforma mimovládnych rozvojových organizácií (MVRO), which is an association of legal entities—the umbrella organization of 31 (23 full members and 8 observers) Slovak NGOs mainly focused on international development and humanitarian aid. http://www.mvro.sk

Full issue of the journal Rozvojová pomoc - jeseň 2011 in PDF