E.Africa emergency appeal UK's most successful ever - Save the Children
Mon, 26 Dec 2011 06:30 GMT
Umi is now a healthy 6 month old after being treated at Habaswein District Hospital, Kenya
Save the Children’s emergency appeal for East Africa has become the most successful in the charity’s history, highlighting the generosity of the British public despite the difficult economic climate.
The aid agency has raised more than £7 million in public donations since launching the appeal in July, overtaking the previous record of £6.8 million raised for the Asian tsunami.
The money has been used to provide live-saving aid, including food, clean water and healthcare, to 1.7 million people caught up a devastating food crisis that has forced thousands families from their homes in search of food and income.
“The generosity of the British public has helped save the lives of hundreds of thousands of children in East Africa,” said Justin Forsyth, Save the Children’s Chief Executive.
“Even when times are tough at home, this shows that British people care deeply about world’s most vulnerable children. They know that their help – however small – can be the difference between life and death for children facing unimaginable suffering.”
One such child is Umi, a tiny baby found by Save the Children outreach staff in a remote village in rural Kenya. She was admitted to hospital suffering with life-threatening malnutrition, but has made a full recovery thanks to the support she received from the charity.
But thousands of other children still need help, particularly in Somalia, where an estimated 250,000 people are in urgent need of assistance.
Justin Forsyth continued: “We’ve already saved thousands of lives, but the scale of the crisis in East Africa is enormous. It is essential we build on what we have achieved to make sure that no child dies because they don't have enough to eat in 2012.”
The East Africa crisis is just one of a record number of humanitarian emergencies Save the Children dealt with in 2011. The aid agency launched 45 responses in 38 countries over year, including the tsunami in Japan, the conflict in Libya and floods in South East Asia.
To donate to Save the Children’s East Africa appeal http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/what-we-do/emergencies/east-africa-appeal or call us on 0800 8148 148 and donate over the phone.
For more information please contact the Save the Children press office on +44 (0)207 012 6841 or out of hours please call +44 (0)7831650409.
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