Fund raising for Horn of Africa famine

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Pretoria - South Africa will join other African countries, who will meet on Thursday, to pledge funds to tackle famine in the Horn of Africa.

The pledging conference, to be held in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, will collect funds that will help over 12 million people in the region.

Some 12.4 million people in the Horn of Africa, including Somalia, parts of Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya and Uganda, are affected by the worst drought in decades in the region and are in need of humanitarian assistance, according to the UN.

The UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says the demands are huge, with a $1.1 billion shortfall from a total $2.4 billion that is needed.

South Africa, which has been providing support to the vulnerable communities in Somalia, will be represented in the conference by Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco), Marius Fransman, the ministry said on Wednesday.

The South African government has responded to the humanitarian crisis confronting the Horn of Africa by raising R8 million towards the famine relief programme, of which R4 million was donated to the South African NGO, Gift of the Givers, towards transportation and logistical costs of delivering aid to Somalia.

"In line with South Africa's foreign policy objective of consolidating the African Agenda, the Government, led by DIRCO, in partnership with Brand South Africa, teamed up with Gift of the Givers and launched the Somalia Relief Campaign aimed at raising public awareness of the dire situation in Somalia and to galvanise South Africans to make donations for relief efforts in that East African country," Dirco said.

The South African government also provided free transport in the form of a South African National Defence Force (SANDF) C130 Hercules supply plane to the Gift of the Givers to deliver 18 tons of essential food and anti-malaria medication to the Somali capital, Mogadishu, last week.

This latest consignment brings to 112 tons the total aid delivered to Somalia by the Gift of the Givers in a two-week period.

This is in addition to government and other South African-based organizations' efforts to bring relief for Somalis in Somalia and refugee camps in neighbouring ountries.

These organisations include Islamic Relief South Africa, Africa Muslim Agency, Netcare South Africa, the Al Imdaad Foundation and the Somali Community Board of South Africa.