A climate in crisis
Article published on oxfam website on 04/27/2017. A report by Tracy Carty
How climate change is making drought and humanitarian disaster worse in East Africa.
Nearly eleven million people in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia are dangerously hungry and in need of humanitarian assistance. The worst drought-affected areas in Somalia are on the brink of famine.
There is growing scientific analysis suggesting that the impacts of current and recent droughts in East Africa are likely to have been aggravated by climate change. Climate change is not a distant, future threat. As this briefing explains, it is helping fuel this emerging catastrophe in which poverty, chronic malnutrition, weak governance, conflict, drought and climate change have combined to create a perfect storm.
Governments across the region and around the world need to take responsibility and provide humanitarian assistance to save lives now. Humanitarian aid needs to be coupled with longer term support to promote the resilience of pastoralists and smallholder food producers. Without global efforts to reduce emissions and to help the world’s poorest people cope with the effects of climate change, this crisis will continue to repeat itself.
Related Articles
More than a tree …
Between 2008 and 2011, Malteser International has helped the community Kyae Taw planting almost 18,000 mangroves, protecting more than 3,000 residents of two villages.
It’s not just NGOs tackling humanitarian crises. Banks have a role too
05/19/2017. Of the 90 million people with physical disabilities around the world who need a mobility device, just one in 10 can access physical rehabilitation services.
UNISDR’s Margareta Wahlström on the Nitty-gritty of Disaster Risk Reduction
IPS Editor in Chief Ramesh Jaura exploring the transfer of technology, the future of official development assistance (ODA) and the crucial role of the civil society in reducing disaster risk.
