While drought and famine conditions have been reported throughout the Horn of Africa, Ethiopia faces the most severe crisis, with more than 8 million people currently at risk. Save the Children has been operating relief efforts primarily in the Gode Zone region of southeastern Ethiopia, until now the hardest hit region. Save the Children has established a therapeutic feeding center at the local hospital where the agency has hired a nutritionist to oversee the program. Therapeutic feeding is recommended for any child under 70 percent of the standard weight for height. The number of children being admitted to the hospital to receive this feeding is double what was first expected.
Water is extremely scarce, for both human and animal consumption.
Last month Save the Children began a water distribution program, beginning in Danan, a hard-hit town approximately 75 km from Gode. Despite the short distance, the road is very rough so that each truck can only take water once a day. We are focused on the need to deliver clean water - water to drink, not for washing or bathing. After its initial emergency relief efforts during the famine of 1984, Save the Children remained in Ethiopia and continues to run community development projects ranging from nutrition and food production to child survival programs and cross-border conflict resolution activities. Save the Children is an international nonprofit child-assistance organization working in more than 40 countries worldwide, including the United States.