The effect of the Sahel drought |
The Gambia Red Cross Society, GRCS, Monday launch a food
provision support to worth over D14 million meant to feed Gambians living in
the rural North Bank and Lower River regions.
The initiative dubbed “Operation Food Security” will last
for a period of four months.
The local humanitarian agency said it raised the money
with support from partners, securing D4, 800,039.58 from DREF fund, and D9,
900,000 from Icelandic Red Cross.
During a press conference on July 2, 2012, the GRCS
revealed it had appealed from donors D28, 519, 264 and a bilateral Spanish Red
Cross partnership of D7, 353, 742.50, but is now faced with a funding gap of
D13, 819, 224.42.
Rural farmers in Gambia are faced with a hunger crisis
following last year’s crop failure, which has been blamed on scarcity of rains.
It took the Gambia Government close to six months before it declared an
emergency on the scarcity of food on March 6, 2012.
“288, 000 kilograms of 5760 50kg bags of rice, 48,000
liters of 2400, 20 liter gallons of oil and 144,450 kilograms of 2889, 50 kg
bags of seeds will be distributed among 6000 people in the North Bank and Lower
River Regions,” Mr. Buba Darboe, Disaster Relief Coordinator GRCS said. “The
total beneficiary population for seeds in both regions is 39,000 of 5778
families.”
He said 5000 beneficiaries will receive at least four
sessions of targeted hygiene promotion to ensure behavior change and an
estimated 10,000 children under 5, pregnant and Lactating Women will benefit
from health and nutrition services including nutrition education, cooking
demonstrations, screening and referral of malnourished cases.
Simply, the four months emergency relief assistance will
see each person given 12kilogramms of rice per person with seeds, cash voucher
cost of 50kg bags of fertilizers per farmer (of 5778 farmers). Phase two of the
disaster risk reduction will support women gardening and capacity building of
Red Cross volunteers.
Mr. Ebrima Sanneh, President of GRCS said his agency
manifested a very high level of commitment to the course of humanity, and had
worked diligently and tirelessly in order to supplement government’s efforts to
alleviate the conditions of vulnerable communities.
He said the ambition of the Red Cross is to continue to
advocate making communities stronger and resilient.
This, he said, is being done by helping communities
better prepare for disasters and emergencies; increasing access to healthcare
or raising awareness around the lack of safe access to health care in armed
conflict and other emergencies; and building a culture of non violence and
peace on the face of major world challenges, such as climate change, conflict
and violence, urbanization and migration.
In 2009, the global body of the Red Cross signed the
Solferino Declaration, a document committing it to do more, do better and reach
further in serving vulnerable people across the world. It has since continued
to gain significant impact in the lives of communities ravaged by disasters
around the world, including Gambia.
Source: The Voice
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