MCC welcomes federal support for famine relief

1 June 2017||

Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) welcomes last month’s announcement from Global Affairs Canada on the creation of a Famine Relief Fund. In response to what the United Nations has called the greatest humanitarian crisis since the Second World War, the Canadian government will contribute $1 to the new fund for every dollar donated by individual Canadians to MCC and other organizations responding to famine and hunger in South Sudan, Nigeria, Somalia, Yemen and other countries. MCC appeals to the Canadian public for donations in support of its ongoing humanitarian response in several of the affected countries. MCC is responding to famine and hunger in countries including South Sudan, Nigeria, Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and Chad with emergency food assistance, clean water and cash transfers, as well as supporting malnutrition treatment centres, school feeding programs, and long-term nutrition and food security projects. In May, MCC distributed emergency humanitarian supplies in South Sudan’s Unity State, the region where the UN recently declared a famine. Moses Moini, a former South Sudanese refugee and MCC Ontario’s refugee program coordinator, says, “People are starving in South Sudan. . . . The conflict means people cannot work in their fields or harvest their produce. People are on the run and the country is emptying out.” Donations will support MCC’s ongoing response to this crisis and are eligible to be matched by the fund until June 30, 2017, backdated to March 17. To donate online, visit mcco.ca/famine —Mennonite Central Committee

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