Dar es Salaam. Seventy-five tonnes of food and other items have been raised for donation to hunger-stricken Somalis.
Mr Ibrahim Ismail, the director of Programme On Life Emergency (Pole), which offered the aid, told journalists here yesterday that the organisation would send food and other essentials to Somalia.
“Three trucks will travel to Dobley in Somalia via Nairobi and we will arrive at Liboi on the border of Kenya and Somalia on Wednesday,” he said. “On arrival in Somalia, Somali Relief and Development Forum and Islamic Help UK will help us in administering and distributing the aid, which includes wheat flour, rice, maize, dates, sugar and nutritional supplements.”
He also said the Islamic Help (UK) would set up a centre in Dobley to serve malnourished children.
A representative of the Somali Community in Tanzania, Mr Mahad Nur, said the donation would help women and children who are the main victims of drought.
“We are saddened by the suffering of our brothers and sisters... we see them everyday through the media and we ask Tanzanians to continue to help save lives,’’ he appealed.
He said the 11 people had volunteered to transport the food to Somalia and would be escorted by the police in Kenya to ensure safe arrival.
Meanwhile, local non-governmental organisations have joined their counterparts in the continent in raising money for millions of people facing hunger in the Horn of Africa ahead of an African Union conference in Addis Ababa next Thursday on the worsening crisis. Africans Act4Africa’s initiative aims to raise at least $50 million out of the $1.4 billion needed to feed 12 million people facing severe famine due to prolonged drought in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya and other drought afflicted states in the zone.
The Arusha-based East African Civil Society Forum (EACSOF), Multi-Environment Society, and the Legal and Human Rights Centre are spearheading the campaign in which institutions and individuals are being urged to contribute.
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