Travel and Personal
Christmas in a time of Drought and Famine
The drought and famine in East Africa is now official. The papers here (The Standard, The Daily Nation) are full of stories and photos - of rotting cattle and pot-bellied children. If you needed proof, here’s more: Worst drought in years threatens children in Kenya.
This doesn’t mean the world knows about it, though. The New York Times claiming to have ‘all the news that’s fit to print’, carries no word of the crises.
Even in Kenya, life goes on in a sea of plenty. In the northern districts, the government’s National Cereal Promotion Board is receiving record amounts of maize for storage. In Village Market, the rich and famous, and their children, order copious amounts of food and drink. The malls are lit up, and in Nairobi people prepare for Christmas.
And what is the United Nations doing in this time of need? Nothing. The UNDP is on leave. The same, likely applies to the World Food Programme, UNICEF, and all other agencies that should be active. For all their vices these form the first line of defense against disaster.
If only disasters could schedule themselves to our convenience. Like the Tsunami a year ago, this one did not. It is becoming a forgotten event from a forgotten continent.
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[...] A correction to my earlier post is in order on the world’s response to the famine in Kenya. My colleague is indeed working hard to respond to this crises. The UNDP is funding an assessment, and also executing an EMOP (Emergency Operation) with the FAO and WFP. The assessment will help the UN ask for funds and direct other agencies as they get involved. The results are not encouraging, however. The number of people affected (starving) has gone up to 2.5 million. [...]