East Africa needs our help

AN emergency appeal to help millions of people facing starvation in Africa has been launched in the Capital.

The Edinburgh Disasters Response Committee appeal, led by Edinburgh-based charity Mercy Corps and the city council, is aiming to deliver desperately needed aid to people currently in the grip of the worst drought the region has seen for 60 years.

Large parts of Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia and South Sudan are affected and around 1000 refugees a day are arriving in the Dadaab refugee camp in eastern Kenya - many of them children.

The drought has been brought on by two consecutive poor rainy seasons, causing a severe food crisis across East Africa. The affected areas have been decribed as a "vision of hell", while the UN said the situation was a "humanitarian emergency".

Mercy Corps director of fundraising John Cunningham said: "The drought has already affected millions, and sadly it's getting worse. The effects of the drought are increased by a sharp spike in food and fuel prices, as well as conflict and limited humanitarian access. Hundreds of thousands of families have been forced to leave their homes in search of food, water and shelter.

"Mercy Corps is already bringing relief to hungry families and helping people become self-sufficient so they can feed themselves in the future. But now more than ever we need help from the people of Edinburgh to respond to this huge crisis."

Edinburgh's Lord Provost George Grubb said: "I'm pleased to have seen action from the British Government and aid agencies to deal with the impact of this crisis. For our part, we want to lend any help Edinburgh can give to the millions of people in need in East Africa.

"I would ask the people of Edinburgh to give everything they can to support the appeal. The Capital has a long and proud tradition of reaching out to those in less fortunate circumstances."

A UK-wide appeal has also been launched by the Disasters Emergency Committee, and Scottish Secretary Michael Moore urged everyone in Scotland to give what they could to help support the ten million people estimated to be affected by the crisis.

He said: "I realise this comes against a difficult economic backdrop in the UK, but the fact is that even the smallest amount can make a real difference."

• The Edinburgh Disasters Response Committee is calling on people to donate through Mercy Corps at www.mercycorps.org.uk, by calling 0800 0665766 (24 hours), or by texting "TAKE10 10" to 70070 to donate 10.