How Plan has helped 1.1m people affected by drought in East Africa

Jul 4
07:32

2012

Daniel Kidd

Daniel Kidd

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In 2011, the lack of rainfall in East Africa resulted in one of the region’s driest years since 1995 and left 12.4 million people in need of humanitarian assistance.

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The drought resulted in many areas of the region experiencing severe crop failures,How Plan has helped 1.1m people affected by drought in East Africa  Articles deterioration of livestock and elevated food prices. In July of that year, the children’s charity, Plan International, began its emergency response to the drought. At the time, many households were resorting to skipping meals which led to increased malnutrition, especially among children and new mothers.
“Girls are particularly at risk,” says Plan’s Country Director in Ethiopia, David Throp. “They’re often the first to go hungry if families don’t have enough food, and economic pressures may lead to them dropping out of school, migration and even early marriage.”
Plan’s emergency response has provided assistance to some of the most vulnerable groups, including children, pregnant women, new mothers, the elderly and the sick. Our work in the region has included the provision of food and water, hygiene promotion, and raising awareness of child protection in emergencies.
In Kenya, Plan has supported over 650,000 children and vulnerable groups in five areas across the country. The organisation has been providing maize, beans, oil and water to schools and health centres, and helping communities to de-silt local dams in order to increase access to drinking water.  It has also carried out child protection assessments to ensure the safety of young people at risk.
Meanwhile, in Ethopia, Plan has been able to help a total of 280,000 people in 11 districts by implementing water and sanitation initiatives such as roof-water collection systems and by providing food to eat and seeds to grow.  In addition, the charity has been supporting the government in its efforts to improve the effectiveness of healthcare and other services.
In South Sudan, which has also been severely affected by the drought, Plan has supported over 200,000 people by providing food assistance to internally displaced people and implementing school meal programmes and child protection measures.  It has been distributing seeds and tools to increase crop production, helping communities to build safe toilets and drilling boreholes to ensure access to clean water. 
Plan's emergency response has helped over 1.1 million people affected by the drought in East Africa.  Now, it is focusing its attention on longer-term projects such as sustainable food and water assistance, healthcare capacity-building and education. It is paying particular attention to issues of child protection, as the hardships brought about by the drought have had a serious impact on children, in particular girls.