ETHIOPIA DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY AS CONFLICT THREATENS TO SPREAD
We are concerned to see recent media reports of the conflict escalating and extending beyond the Tigray and Afar region. It has now been one year since the conflict began and our partners in Ethiopia are watching these events unfold with growing despair.
APDA’s co-founder Valerie Browning told us that communities already suffering malnutrition have been completely overwhelmed with over 150,000 displaced people flowing into their towns seeking food and shelter.
“Conflict has dominated…there have been massive emergency calls ranging from blood donation to feeding the extremely hungry. The destruction is mindless. ” Valerie Browning
Looting and violence continues to be widespread. People are fleeing, traumatised by what they have experienced and witnessed. Health centres, schools and hospitals remain decimated and communities have little, if any, food and shelter. Without the resources and opportunity needed to improve their situation there is little hope.
But thanks to your donations APDA have been able to reach people in desperate need of very basic food, shelter and health services. Your donations are literally life-saving and we cannot thank you enough for how you have helped so far.
Along with humanitarian aid, APDA are planning recovery projects to support communities to rebuild what has been destroyed – repairing wells and water storage; training and micro-finance to restart local markets; and helping small-hold farmers to plant quick-producing crops. With numerous communities engulfed in near-famine conditions, the fight to address hunger and malnutrition will be a long journey.
We are committed to supporting APDA in this work for as long as it takes, but we cannot do that without you by our side. So thank you for staying with us and our partners during challenging times.