Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Addis Ababa (Agenzia Fides) - Because of the famine caused by the severe drought that has hit the area in the past 50 years, between 100 and 200 children under 5 years of age continue to die every day in the Horn of Africa. Despite the aid and assistance on behalf of various humanitarian organizations, the situation is getting worse, and last year between 35 000 and 65 000 children died. In the refugee camp in Dadaab, the largest in the world, in Kenya, the continuous influx of thousands of hungry children in poor sanitary conditions and fleeing from their native lands has caused disasters over the past two years in east Africa. The Department for International Development of the United Kingdom indicates that in 2011 there were between 50 thousand and 100 thousand deaths, of which over half of them were children. The U.S. government ensures that only from May to July 2011 29,000 minors died. NGOs Oxam and Save the Children, in the report recently published, A Dangerous Delay, reported that thousands of deaths could have been avoided if the international community, governments and humanitarian organizations, had responded more quickly to the problem. Furthermore, the rate of malnutrition in Somalia has increased from 16.4% to 36.4%. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 27/01/2012)
