Bolstering Relief Efforts, ACF Reinforcements Reach Djibouti, Somalian Refugees in Ethiopia
In an effort to enhance its emergency response across the Horn of Africa, which is facing its worst humanitarian crisis in decades, Action Against Hunger continues to ship water and sanitation equipment and critical food supplies to the region to reinforce its ongoing efforts.
Djibouti: 7.5 Tons of Water and Sanitation Equipment
Last week, 7.5 tons of clean water equipment, including tanks, pumps, test kits, taps and buckets, arrived in Djibouti City from Action Against Hunger’s staging grounds in Lyon, France. These resources will help government and aid agencies address water shortages in the poorer neighborhoods of the waterfront city, an important gateway to East Africa.
Following a prolonged and deadly two-year drought, the groundwater supplying Djibouti has reached dangerously shallow levels and many private wells have run dry. Those living in the city’s poorer quarters are connected to a loose network that, at best, provides an infrequent flow of water. In response, Action Against Hunger has launched emergency water and sanitation programs in the areas most prone to water scarcity.
Inadequate water supplies and poor access to proper sanitation are key contributors to the development of diseases, such as cholera, and respiratory infections. They are the leading causes of mortality and morbidity in children under five years of age.
Somalian Refugees: 36 Tons of Nutritional Supplements
Action Against Hunger has also delivered 36 tons of nutritional supplements—in two 18-ton shipments—to support the Somalian refugees in the Dollo Ado camps in Ethiopia. These shipments of Plumpy’Sup—a ready-to-use food supplement used to treat moderate acute malnutrition in children older than six months—will help sustain ACF’s ongoing nutrition programs in the region.
Action Against Hunger currently supports therapeutic nutrition programs targeting people suffering from acute malnutrition in both the transit camps and in the camps in Dollo Ado, Ethiopia. Depending on the number of refugees arriving, ACF’s programs could support more than 285,000 people at current capacity.