1

Latest Posts

Responding to the severe and ongoing drought in the Horn of Africa

Across the Horn of Africa, severe ongoing drought is reshaping the lives of millions as the lack of water destroys livelihoods, causes mass migration, and is the reason for increasing malnutrition. Read how the Somali Red Crescent is working to help where it is most needed. 

Photos from a hunger crisis

In East Africa, tens of millions of people are in dire need of food as a series of disasters from climate change, conflict, the COVID-19 pandemic, a locust invasion, and longstanding vulnerabilities have converged into a humanitarian crisis. Time is running out to avert starvation. Unless urgent action is taken, the continued drought in East Africa could come to resemble the one in 2011, which killed about 260,000 people in Somalia.

Rains in Kindo Koysha, Ethiopia: Predictably unpredictable

Nearly one year ago, my colleague Martin De Vries described the first rains of 2017 to fall on the desperately drought-affected district of Kindo Koysha in southern Ethiopia. The occasion was joyous but all too short-lived. As Martin concluded then: “Has the drought ended? Not by a long way.” I arrived in Ethiopia three months later to find incredibly resilient people coping with varying degrees of recurrent drought in their regular ways; ways unfathomable to most of us in Canada.

Everything you need to know about the Africa food insecurity crisis

In 2018, the food insecurity crisis that is impacting millions of people in parts of Africa is expected to continue. Learn what is happening, who is being affected, and what is being done to help. 

Photo of the Day: Red Cross continues to provide life and livelihood-saving support to drought-affected communities in southern Ethiopia

One of the greatest risks for the people affected by drought in southern Ethiopia is the loss of their livestock; their livelihoods. 

Photo of the day: Responding to the needs of drought-affected families in Ethiopia

In drought-stricken Ethiopia, the Canadian Red Cross is supporting the Ethiopian Red Cross Society in delivering immediate life-saving help, including safer drinking water (via water trucking and water purification), hygiene promotion and supplies, and supplementary feed for livestock.

Sitting upright - free from disease

Bashiir sits upright on his cot inside a crowded cholera ward. “It is the first time I am sitting like this in a long time,” says Bashiir. “With my illness, I could not sit, I could not stand. For three days and three nights, I was vomiting. My entire body was aching. Those were black days.”
 Bashiir is at a treatment centre in eastern Africa for acute watery diarrhea/cholera set up by the Canadian Red Cross, with support from the Government of Canada.

The search for water in a drought-stricken country

Combatting acute watery diarrhea/cholera requires knowledge, skill, equipment, medicine, and most importantly: good, clean water. But how can that be accomplished when an increase in cases of acute watery diarrhea/cholera is seen in a developing country experiencing a severe drought?

See your impact in action.

Sign up to receive impact updates from the Canadian Red Cross, inspirational stories from the field and be the first to hear about emergency relief efforts.


The Canadian Red Cross takes your privacy seriously. We do not distribute or sell your email address to anyone. View our privacy policy.

About The Blog

The purpose of this blog, quite simply, is to talk. This blog is an opportunity for Red Cross staff, volunteers, supporters and friends to share stories about what is happening in your community and the important work you are doing. It is a tool that will help keep all of us connected.

Blog Archives