Donations to the U.K. aid agencies engaged in humanitarian relief work in East Africa have reached a record 72 million pounds ($113 million), according to the U.K. Disasters Emergency Committee, which added that this is the highest ever total donation provided by the U.K. public for a food crisis.
DEC, an umbrella U.K. organization in charge of launching and coordinating response to major overseas disasters, launched its appeal for East African drought victims in July. The group said the total funds raised through the appeal so far is the third-largest it has mobilized in 45 years.
But the group, which includes 19 U.K. aid agencies, said there is still a shortage of funds required to meet the needs of drought victims in Somalia and its neighbor countries adequately, the Press Association reports. It also cited security concerns and lack of access in some of the hardest-hit areas as key challenges faced by aid agencies engaged in crisis response.
Meanwhile, the shipment of rice, flour, wheat and edible oil from China to East Africa would be completed by the end of October, according to COFCO, the Asian country’s largest food importer and exporter chosen by the government to procure and transport its promised $38 million food aid package.
Read more development aid news online, and subscribe to The Development Newswire to receive top international development headlines from the world’s leading donors, news sources and opinion leaders — emailed to you FREE every business day.
