Tag Archives: disasters emergency committee

Lord Ashdown emails Lib Dem members in Horn of Africa appeal

By Helen Duffett | Tue 2nd August 2011 - 4:13 pm

Former Liberal Democrat leader Paddy Ashdown has emailed Lib Dem members to appeal for urgent donations to help with the famine in the Horn of Africa:

As I write this, there is a crisis in the Horn of Africa that is claiming the lives of thousands of children. Famine has been declared. Millions face starvation. In Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia we are witnessing the worst humanitarian catastrophe in a generation.

It is a crisis that has unfolded slowly, so much so that the media has found little drama to force it to top of news bulletins – which have instead been dominated

…

LibLink | Paddy Ashdown: Somalia’s ‘children’s famine’ has been ignored

By Helen Duffett | Thu 21st July 2011 - 6:53 pm

Paddy Ashdown writes today at Comment is Free on the urgent need to help famine-stricken Somalia – a situation which has been overshadowed in the news by more sensational events.

The problem when a child is dying from starvation is that they can’t wait. They can’t put their hunger on pause until the glare of the media decides to turn its spotlight on them and help spread the word that children are dying. Instead, they will slowly starve to death.

This is exactly what is happening to nearly 2 million children in Somalia right now. Nearly half of these children are

…