At a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, August 6, Julius E. Coles, President of Africare, expressed increased urgency about Ethiopia's worsening food and health crises. In the past months, 1.6 million additional Ethiopians have required urgent food assistance for survival, bringing the total number needing food aid to 12.6 million, roughly one in every five Ethiopians.
While the United States and other countries are providing significant food supplies to Ethiopia, food aid alone is not the answer to Ethiopia's persistent nutritional and health problems. Successive famines and the lack of clean water have left millions in a weakened state. This has resulted in heightened levels of diseases such as measles, malaria, diarrhea, and acute respiratory illnesses. Ethiopia's health system does not have the resources to effectively prevent or treat these diseases.
"For Ethiopia to be free from the threat of recurring famines and epidemics," noted Coles, "the international community, in partnership with the Ethiopian people, must invest in water projects, agricultural research and production, improved medical services, rural roads, and soil conversation."
Africare's Program in Ethiopia: In response to this humanitarian crisis, Africare, in partnership with Catholic Relief Services and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is providing emergency food rations to thousands of the most drought-affected families in Gog, Dimma, Jor, Gambella, and Abobo districts of the Gambella Region of Ethiopia. To address Ethiopia's long-term development needs, Africare is building roads in Gambella, with USAID funding, to link farmers to markets and to make agricultural and health services available to isolated farmers. Africare is implementing a USAID-funded program, along with the Gambella Regional Health Bureau and local communities, to vaccinate children and provide them with Vitamin A supplements. Financial support from the Besser Foundation and the Alpha Kappa Alpha and Phi Delta Kappa sororities is helping Africare to reduce diarrheal diseases through new potable water projects. Additionally, Africare is addressing the HIV/AIDS crisis through HIV/AIDS prevention activities targeting women and high school students.
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Africare's Plan for the Future: Africare will work closely with the government and people of Ethiopia, as well as other development partners, to design an integrated response to the food and health crises in other particularly hard-hit areas in Ethiopia. A participatory planning process will result in a program that will mobilize local human and financial resources, which will be matched by additional resources secured by Africare. This new program, planned to begin early next year, will address the complex, underlying causes of famine and poor health in Ethiopia.
Africare is a leader in aid to Africa as well as the oldest and largest African-American organization specializing in African aid. Over its 33-year history, Africare has delivered more than $450 million in assistance representing over 2,000 projects and millions of beneficiaries to 35 countries Africa-wide. Today, Africare's 150-plus programs reach families and communities in 26 nations in every region of the African continent.
