Tommy Tiernan appeals to people of Mayo to support Africa famine appeal
COMEDIAN and TV presenter Tommy Tiernan has appealed to the people of Mayo to support the Irish Emergency Alliance urgent hunger appeal to save the lives of millions of people at risk of famine in the Horn of Africa.
Four failed consecutive rainy seasons have resulted in parts of Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia facing their worst drought in 40 years, with more than a million and a half people already forced to leave their homes and villages, often walking for days in search of food and water.
The Alliance - made up of Action Aid, Christian Aid, Plan International, Self Help Africa, Tearfund, Trócaire and World Vision Ireland - said children are dying every day due to the hunger crisis, and warned that every minute counts.
Tommy, who visited Somalia with humanitarian aid agency Trócaire last week, said: “I was in Gedo in Somalia and visited two of the 200 internally displaced people’s camps across the region, which are accommodating nearly a quarter of a million people. They are there because they have no food. The Irish Emergency Alliance needs funds to buy food to stop people starving to death. Many children have already died.”
In a joint statement, the Irish Emergency Alliance said it is asking the people of Ireland to give what they can to the emergency appeal.
“There have been warnings for months that unprecedented drought, rising food prices and a lack of funding for humanitarian organisations have been creating a silent emergency in the Horn of Africa. But those warnings were not heeded and we are now on the brink of an unthinkable humanitarian catastrophe.
“Most at risk are the elderly, and children who lack the physical strength and resources to cope with days and weeks of starvation. When a baby is severely malnourished, even if they survive, they may never be the same again as their developing brains are so vulnerable."
With drought causing harvests to continue to fail, and nearly nine million livestock dying, each member of the Irish Emergency Alliance has mounted large-scale humanitarian programmes. Over 20 million lives are at risk as people face acute food shortages and rising malnutrition across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia.
“The unjust reality is that people suffering in the Horn of Africa, had no hand in causing droughts driven by climate change.”
Speaking at the launch of the Irish Emergency Alliance emergency appeal, CEO of Plan International Ireland, Paul O’Brien, who recently returned from Somaliland, said; “Many people we talked to felt they are suffering because of climate change. In my 35 years in this sector, I have never heard ordinary people talking about the impact of climate change so clearly and relating it directly to their experience.
“A woman explained to me the reality of the situation, and said, 'Our cattle used to feed us, now we are feeding them. They are dying, and we are next'.”
CEO of Trócaire, Caoimhe De Barra, also remarked: “I have seen at first hand on a visit to Trócaire programmes in Somalia last week the unjust and unthinkable suffering of thousands of people who are hungry and on the brink of starvation, forced to leave their homes in desperate search of assistance. It is heart-breaking to hear from our staff stories of children dying en route to internally displaced camps, or in our hospitals because they have presented too late for treatment.”
Rosamond Bennett, chief executive of Christian Aid Ireland, who travelled to northern Kenya recently, said: “I was shocked by the severity of the drought. The deadly impact of four back-to-back failed rainy seasons was clear to see.
“I met with families subdued from hunger, saw shrivelled crops starved of water and the carcasses of livestock dotted all around, animals which are the lifeblood of rural communities.
“The window is fast closing to prevent this devastating crisis we are seeing in the Horn of Africa from becoming a complete catastrophe."
Donations to this urgent appeal can be made through https://irishemergencyalliance.org/ or by calling 1800 939 979.