Secretary Clinton Pledges Additional Aid For Horn Of Africa

As the drought in East Africa continues to claim lives, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton argued Thursday that it is time for Washington to do more. 

While addressing a small group at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) Thursday, Clinton announced that Washington would send an additional $17 million in aid to the hunger-wrenched region of East Africa. Of that sum, $12 million will be donated directly to those starving in Somalia. 

This aid brings the total US humanitarian assistance in East Africa this year to more than $580 million. 

“We must remember that time is not on our side. Every minute, more people die, more people become sick and more people flee their homes,” Clinton warned in her speech to IFPRI, an organization that develops sustainable solutions for ending poverty and hunger across the world,

The UN announced Wednesday that 3.7 million people in Somalia are at risk of famine and more than 12 million are affected by the drought across the horn of Africa. Additionally, ten percent of Somali children under five are dying every 11 weeks due to the famine. 

Clinton emphasized that in addition to providing aid for the current crisis, Washington must also invest efforts into preventing such tragic occurrences in the future.

“We must maintain our focus on the future by continuing to invest in long-term food security in countries that are susceptible to drought and food shortages,” Clinton remarked.

Dr. Jill Biden and Senator Bill Frist echoed these same sentiments in an op-ed entitled “Let’s Save Starving Somalis” that will be published in the USA Today on Friday.

“We must also confront the broader challenge of food insecurity that leaves so many people vulnerable to droughts like this one. That’s why America has been helping nations like Ethiopia and Kenya develop innovative and improved crops and irrigation methods and new ways for farmers to market and transport their products.The goal of our aid is simple: to help create the conditions where such aid is no longer needed.” Biden and Frist wrote.

“We have a crisis and we must respond,” Clinton continued in her speech. “We must try to support those refugee camps and do everything we can to provide the immediate help that is needed. Let’s use this opportunity to make very clear what more we need to do together to try to avoid this happening again.”