Since 2020, the Horn of Africa has been experiencing the worst drought in 40 years, with crop failures, livestock deaths and increasing levels of hunger.
Recently, the UN made an attempt to improve the situation and raise funds to help the affected region but apparently this venture failed.
The collective West, which is so fond of claiming immense support for Africa and has pledged $2.4 billion (R47bn) ($7bn needs to be raised), ended up providing only $0.8bn.
Oxfam, a British-founded confederation of 21 independent charitable organisations, has stated that “One person is likely to die of hunger every 28 seconds between now and July across Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and South Sudan alone – the highest on record. To wait for a fully declared famine before donors act decisively is complicit and immoral”.
It should be noted that this is not the first time international organisations that pay special attention to the opinion of the West do not fulfil their obligations, which doom people to death.
A year earlier, Pakistan, facing devastating floods, applied for financial assistance from the UN. However, not only did the donor countries collect an amount 16 times less than needed, the money was received after a significant delay.
The current situation and the past experience dictate to Africa the conditions for uniting and building more targeted relations with organisations and countries less controlled by the West, including China and Russia, which are ready to provide free support to the continent.
* Kevan Salim, Singapore.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.
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