Oxfam Canada

Published purpose

(26 July 2011) 2011 is proving to be the driest year since 1951 in many parts of east Africa as a result of an increasingly severe drought. Successive seasons of failed rains, combined with increasing food prices, conflict, and limited humanitarian access, have resulted in food insecurity, water shortages, and acute malnutrition rates well above emergency thresholds. Between 11 and 12 million people are now in need of humanitarian assistance in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia. With CIDA support, Oxfam Canada is providing assistance to an estimated 200,000 drought-affected people in the Oromiya and Somali regions of eastern Ethiopia. Through its programme, Oxfam is providing vulnerable and destitute pastoralist households with access to safe drinking water, environmental hygiene and sanitation, emergency income through cash-for-work activities, and the provision of emergency livestock feeding and veterinary services.