Knorr-Bremse Global Care e. V. provides emergency aid
According to the United Nations, the drought that has struck the Horn of Africa is the worst for the past 60 years. Millions of people are threatened by starvation. By way of emergency aid, Knorr-Bremse Global Care e. V. has provided a donation of EUR 200,000.
The situation in East Africa is becoming more dramatic by the day. Driven by the disastrous drought and the continuing violence of civil war, every day thousands of people are fleeing from Somalia across the borders with Ethiopia and Kenya, flooding into refugee camps that are already beyond their intended capacity. Appalled at the dramatic situation in East Africa, Knorr-Bremse Global Care has made available a donation of EUR 200,000 by way of emergency aid to help the people in the area.
Half of the money is being transferred to CARE Deutschland-Luxemburg e.V. Since 1992 this charity has been working primarily to improve the situation of the refugees in Dadaab (Kenya). Dadaab, the world’s largest refugee camp, is in Kenya and it’s bursting at the seams. Originally designed to host 90,000 refugees, today it is home to almost 400,000 people and more are arriving every day. For the aid organizations on the ground it is getting harder and harder to provide the refugees with even the most basic provisions.
The other half is being made available to the aid organization AMREF (African Medical and Research Foundation). AMREF will be using the funds to provide emergency aid in Northern Kenya by digging deeper wells, improving hygiene to prevent the spread of disease, and increasing the food rations for undernourished schoolchildren. Knorr-Bremse Global Care is already collaborating with AMREF on a three-year aid project in Kenya to combat the eye infection trachoma.
“The situation of the people in East Africa is incredibly desperate and leaves us deeply dismayed. So we want to play our part in helping the starving and sick as quickly as possible,” says Julia Thiele-Schürhoff, who chairs the board of Knorr-Bremse Global Care e. V.
To provide more lasting support for the victims of the famine, Knorr-Bremse Global Care will be acting in line with its mission of “helping people to help themselves” and also committing to a long-term development project in the region, in addition to the current short-term measures.
