Will we Learn from our Mistakes and Respond in Time to Ethiopia’s Drought?

I have just returned from an overwhelming trip to Ethiopia visiting Save the Children projects in the Sitti Zone (the northeast region of the country) and witnessing the extreme draught in these pastoralist areas of the country. While there, I saw communities struggling with a severe lack of food and water, experiencing the loss of their main livelihoods both in livestock and crops.  I saw children impacted by malnutrition and the illnesses associated with a lack of food and water. The children were receiving food aid and treatment for malnutrition, but the situation runs a grave risk of deteriorating without increased and urgent help from the international community.

Ethiopia has been a model in terms of reaching the goals we globally share for children.  They met the Millennium Development Goal #4 – reduce under-five child mortality by two-thirds – two years early. Some 95% of Ethiopian children are enrolled in primary school and completion rates continue to rise.  A health care system that includes 34,000 health care workers means even the poorest people have some access to basic care. But the situation the Ethiopian Government is facing today – the worst drought the country has seen in 50 years – is extreme. Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary General of the UN, has called Ethiopia’s drought the worst and most severe El Nino impact the world has seen. No country should have to face a crisis like this alone.

The work that is being done so far to manage this crisis is good work. We’ve come so far since 1984 and Ethiopia and the international community have put in place many early warning systems that are working. But in the face of such an overwhelming crisis, no system is strong enough to cope with the strain. If the rains do not fall in March and if the crops that are planted do not lead to a harvest, this drought and food crisis will quickly become unbearable and unmanageable.

During my time in Ethiopia, I visited multiple Save the Children field sites and saw first-hand the impact of this drought on the landscape – so much dust and no water anywhere in sight – and the people. I am unable to forget the looks in the eyes of the mothers and fathers that I met. They’ve lost their cattle, their homes, their livelihoods. Their thin children may have food today, but they do not know how long that will last. I spoke with a mother in a stabilization centre who was at risk of losing her four-year-old daughter. Her desperation is urgent and it is painful – the plea in her eyes haunts me.

Save the Children’s team in Ethiopia – led by John Graham, a Canadian – is a smart, committed and determined bunch. The work they are doing as the largest NGO on the ground in Ethiopia is impressive.  Their care and commitment is evident not only in the face of the drought emergency, but also in the ongoing portfolio of work across almost every sector and sub-theme Save the Children has.  They will need more resources and support to keep the development and emergency efforts going and our recent declaration of this emergency as a Category One response means Save the Children is committed to helping.

It’s 2016. The world has learned from our previous mistakes when we failed to intervene fast enough in emergency situations. To demonstrate this we must now come together, urgently. With this drought and food crisis in Ethiopia, we are presented with a unique opportunity to write a good story on behalf of humanity. I urge you all to support Save the Children’s efforts in Ethiopia and work with us to write a positive story of how we as a people respond to this call for help.