CARE Australia welcomes the Federal Government’s commitment of an additional $20 million to support the people suffering from severe hunger and malnutrition in South Sudan and Somalia.

Famine was declared in parts of South Sudan last week and it is feared Somalia, as well as north-east Nigeria and Yemen are on the brink of famine.

CARE Australia’s Emergency Response Manager, Stefan Knollmayer, said the Australian Government’s funding commitment would help ensure aid agencies can respond quickly to the unfolding crisis.

“This funding will save lives,” he said.

“Famine is entirely preventable and this support from Australia will help stop this already severe crisis from becoming a full blown catastrophe.”

Mr Knollmayer said the East Africa region was facing the worst hunger crisis since 2011, when 260,000 people perished – half of them children under five.

“We cannot let the tragedy of the 2011 famine in Somalia repeat itself. We need to act now.”

“There are 20 million people around the world who are on the brink of famine. That’s almost the population of Australia facing an entirely preventable death.”

CARE works in Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan and countries in the Lake Chad Basin around Nigeria providing food, nutrition and emergency cash assistance.

CARE Australia is an international humanitarian aid organisation fighting poverty, with a special focus on working with women and girls to bring lasting change to their communities. To donate to CARE’s emergency response go to care.org.au/famine

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