A doctor examining a child at the SOS Medical Clinic in the Badbado Refugee Camp

August 4, 2011: The drought in East Africa is the worst to hit the region in 60 years. According to the United Nations, over 11.6 million people are facing the real threat of starvation. Entire families and communities have abandoned their homes in search of food and water. In a terrifying turn of events, small children are wandering into refugee camps alone because their families sent them off in search of better conditions.

Southern Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia are the hardest hit by this tragedy and SOS Children's Villages is increasing its emergency relief efforts. SOS has been helping in this region since 1971 and operates 13 Children’s Villages, schools, medical facilities, vocational training programs and family strengthening programs. When many relief organizations were forced to leave in years past, SOS was allowed to maintain its presence as it focused on helping children regardless of politics or religion. In Somalia, SOS operates the only functioning maternity ward and gynecological care facility in the country.

SOS Emergency Relief Programs in East Africa

The situation in the southern part of Somalia is worst of all. Somalis are in danger not only from hunger and drought, but also from the endless war conditions. Each day thousands flee from the disastrous conditions in an attempt to reach Kenya and Ethiopia but the UN has estimated that 6 people of every 10,000 are still dying every day.

Children already weakened often do not survive the journey across the desert. Many desperate people are also arriving in the devastated capital, Mogadishu, in the hope of finding water food, and medicine. SOS has been serving over 120,000 Somalis each year in Mogadishu through its Medical Center and is now building on its strong position to increase services. An SOS Medical Clinic to help the displaced in the Badbado Refugee Camp opened on July 24th, and more than 600 people were helped in the first week. Staff and supplies are being provided through the SOS Medical Center in Mogadishu, now expanded from 24 to 60 beds. Plans to establish additional SOS Clinics in Somalia are underway.

View photos of SOS relief operations in Badbado Refugee Camp.

SOS in Ethiopia

Life has been difficult in Ethiopia for decades. SOS Children's Villages began operating in Ethiopia in 1974, during another catastrophic drought. When the government of Ethiopia called on the international community for help, SOS Children's Villages built a Village in the Makalle, in northern Ethiopia. Today, SOS operates six Children’s Villages in Ethiopia along with schools, youth facilities, vocational training programs and medical facilities. SOS Children's Villages is now setting-up an emergency relief program in Southern Ethiopia near Gode, one of the driest areas of Ethiopia. The plan is to distribute food and put sustainable development measures in place to secure families' survival in the long-term. SOS-Ethiopia currently serves 59,000 people; in Gode the figure is over 16,000.

SOS in Kenya

SOS operates five Children’s Villages and numerous programs in Kenya that reach over 14,000 people. SOS is in the process of expanding our presence in Marsabit in northern Kenya to assist with the constant stream of refugees from Somalia. Food will be provided to six schools and five vulnerable communities. Further plans include providing communities with drinking water, providing medical supplies currently unavailable in local health centers for the treatment of diseases caused by the drought, and a Therapeutic Feeding Program targeting severely malnourished children.

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