Sydney, Australia,— SIMaid has responded to the widespread food security crisis in East Africa and is providing immediate assistance to people affected in Kenya and Ethiopia. SIMaid emergency funds will be sent to the region where SIM field staff and their partners are providing assistance on the ground.

According to the United Nations this famine is fast becoming the highest food security crisis of our time, with more than eleven million people facing starvation as a result of poor rains and crop failure. A large proportion of those whose lives are in jeopardy are women and children, many of whom have been forced to leave their homes and even their countries in search of food. UNICEF is describing the situation in Somalia as the children’s famine, with more than two million children needing food and one million of those at risk of dying from malnutrition.

SIMaid Projects Director Ross Britton said, “SIMaid is working with its SIM Kenya partner, which has already initiated responses in East Kenya and is exploring where else SIM can assist in that country. At the same time we are coordinating our response with SIM Project managers and leadership in Ethiopia and our international US and Canadian offices to ensure our aid reaches those who urgently and critically need our help. These countries are still in desperate need of our help and more funding will help us deliver this relief on the ground where it is most critical.” 

With its long history of work in communities in Horn of Africa SIMaid is well placed to direct its assistance where it will have an immediate impact. SIMaid works in cooperation with local communities and governments.  In times of food security crisis, SIMaid collaborates with the UN World Food Program.

SIMaid and its international SIM partners respond to natural disasters where we have field staff located on the ground, and specifically where those partners have requested assistance. This allows us to move quickly and to provide targeted, effective relief, making the best use of our donor dollars. Recent natural disasters where SIMaid has been able to provide effective, targeted relief include the Pakistan floods (July 2010) and the Chile earthquake (February 2010).
 

SIMaid Food Security Projects

SIMaid has been investing in long-term food security projects across Sub-Saharan Africa. Taking lessons from the 1984 drought in Niger and Ethiopia SIMaid has been working on agricultural research and development projects which, with the assistance of the CSIRO and in collaboration with other aid agencies, have proven the utility of Australian acacia plants as a source of nutrition, firewood and building material across this drought prone region of Africa. SIMaid has led the way in this research for more than twenty years. The Australian Foreign Minister Mr Kevin Rudd has called for the sort of food security program which is already well established by SIMaid in Niger and Ethiopia and has the potential to be replicated across other parts of northern Africa.

SIMaid is looking to send $50,000 to East Africa to provide assistance to those in immediate need.

Your emergency donation can save lives right now, with contributions being directed to the field where it will provide relief to those most in need.

Gifs can be mailed to SIMaid (PO Box 42, Penshurst, NSW 2222) or donated online. Funds intended for famine relief should be made against SIMaid Project:  Emergency Fund #68001.

About SIMaid

SIMaid is the relief and development arm of SIM Australia. SIMaid manages projects which help the poor and disadvantaged to live with wholeness and dignity. Projects are conducted in partnership with local churches and communities, government and NGOs and include emergency relief, long-term food security, health, education, agricultural and community development and management of the environment, in Africa, Asia and South America. To meet these needs, carefully structured projects are planned by people working with nationals amongst local communities. Each project is carefully monitored and supervised with progress publicised in the quarterly newsletter, Imagine.