Red Cross Federation appeals for $15.4 m for drought-affected people

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies appealed for a total of US $15.4 million on Monday to help drought-affected people in Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania. "The food insecurity in these countries constitutes a humanitarian crisis that is jeopardising the well-being of millions of people," said Steve Penny, the Federation's disaster management coordinator for East Africa, in a statement. "The drought is exacerbating an already precarious situation in many of the countries due to pre-existing poverty, conflict and inadequate health and sanitation services." The drought had already begun to have a regional impact, with people moving across national borders in search of food, water, work or healthcare, the Federation said in its appeal. The funds would be used to support work in the affected communities, including livestock protection, food distribution, water and sanitation, and health. In Burundi, where more than two million people are affected, lack of rain is only part of the problem. A large number of refugees from conflicts are expected to return home from camps in Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo in the coming months, and the Federation has appealed for funds to provide these returnees with shelter, health services, water and sanitation, and food. The Federation's recent assessment in Tanzania concluded that the food shortage was acute and widespread, affecting all assessed districts. It identified some 3.7 million people (nearly 11 percent of the mainland population) as being food insecure.