Aid agency calls for drastic action to end circle of crisis in Africa

A leading aid agency, CARE International UK, has called for urgent and long-term actions to end the circle of emergencies in Africa which has been ravaged by poverty, diseases and conflicts.

In a new report published on Wednesday, the humanitarian aid agency said 25,000 people die every day from hunger and poverty and more than 120 million people in sub-Saharan Africa are permanently living on the edge of emergency.

"Most of them live on the edge because we keep them there. Money raised to respond to emergencies often leaves them worse off than they were before," the humanitarian aid agency said in its report.

"It is a disgrace that money is still given too late and for such short periods, then spent on the wrong things to truly fight emergencies," said Geoffrey Dennis, the agency's chief executive.

"CARE is demanding that we put a stop to this by calling for a dramatic overhaul of the system which is keeping them trapped," the report said.

The report calls on the international community to give higher priority to recovery and prevention programs like seed distribution and improved veterinary services so that families can pull themselves back from the edge and be in a stronger position to fight off the next emergency themselves.

Flawed and failing emergency responses leave 120 million people permanently on the edge, the report says.

CARE said that often the causes of mass starvation are not because of food shortages, but instead due to HIV/AIDS, climate change and lack of cash to buy food readily available in markets.

In the Horn of Africa, the report estimated it would take seven years to recover from this year's emergency. "But recent trends suggest that the next drought is expected in five years, and some say it will be in as little as two," the report says.

It says emergency aid to help Africa has increased from 500 million pounds (967 million U.S. dollars) in 1997 to 1.7 billion pounds (5.6 million dollars) last year.

But unless foreign donors change the way aid is spent, Africa will face mounting hunger and starvation, deepening poverty and conflict on a continent already reeling from wars, the report said.

However, CARE says food aid responses continue to be popular, not only because food aid is used by several international governments to offload their own domestic food surpluses, but also because the results are immediate and visible.

But this food aid often leaves people no better off than before the emergency, the report added.

Source: Xinhua