In drought-stricken Somalia, you've turned Hunger into Hope for children like Yasmiin*.
Climate-induced drought and conflict in Somalia have led to widespread food and water shortages, disease outbreaks, displacement and a drastic reduction in household incomes.
Thanks to the support from caring Kiwis this festive season, Yasmiine, and other children like her can start dreaming of their future, and not just their next meal.
Watch this short video to see Yasmiine and her mother, Faduma*.
Millions of families are struggling to access the food and water their children need to live. Food insecurity has reached famine-like levels in a number of regions, including Puntland and Burao.
On top of the urgent threat it poses to people’s survival, the hunger crisis is exacerbating existing inequalities. More girls are being forced into child marriage, and out of education, to reduce the number of mouths to feed.
And food insecurity is worst for households led by women and people with disabilities, who have less access to livelihood opportunities.
This festive season, Save the Children has been raising much needed funds to support this crisis.
Thanks to the support of Kiwis across Aotearoa, New Zealand, as of December 11th we have raised an incredible $140,000**
How are we helping children and families in Somalia?
510 families will be given life-saving support in the form of:
- Life-saving treatment for malnourished children.
- Psychosocial support given to girls and women, to help them stay safe through the hunger crisis.
- Cash transfers, so families can buy their children food, medicine and other survival basics.
This emergency response was funded by the New Zealand Disaster Response Partnership, part of the New Zealand Aid Programme, and matched with the donations from our incredible supporters.
If you would still like to support this appeal. You can make a special gift here.
Yasmiin’s story
The lack of food is weakening Faduma’s children and making it harder for them to fight off illness. This is made worse by the lack of water, which makes waterborne diseases a daily reality. Going without adequate calories and nutrition day after day could stunt their physical and intellectual development, robbing them of their dreams forever.
“The drought has impacted on my family’s health. We don’t have enough water and we don’t have water storage. Access to food is very difficult. Local traders used to give us loans to buy food, but we couldn’t repay them and now they don’t trust us.” – Yasmiin’s mother, Faduma.
Faduma’s daughters Yasmiin and Aida* are aged eight and seven and love to sing and play clapping games. But some days, hunger leaves them too tired and weak to do anything. Across Somalia, hunger is draining children like Yasmiin and Aida of their energy and excitement for the world around them.
Yasmiin dreams of going to school. But her mother can barely afford to buy rice, let alone pay for school fees. Drought is tearing millions of Somali children like Yasmiin from their education and leaving them too hungry to concentrate. Gender inequality mean girls are most at risk of dropping out of school forever.
This festive season could have been very different for children like eight-year-old Yasmiine, who loves to learn, dance, play and sing.
Because of the support from our generous donors, more children like Yasmiine can eat, live, learn, play, and have opportunities to dream.
**Gifts will be matched up to the value of $112,000 to help Somali children in urgent need. All money raised over this will go towards helping children in emergencies across the world.
*Names have been changed twice, that's why the story names don't match in the video.
