Emergencies
Mesay, 32, with his baby Belete Mesque who is two and a half years old in the village of Sosetya, in the Hanamerant area of Ethi. Mesay, 32, with his baby Belete Mesque who is two and a half years old in the village of Sosetya, in the Hanamerant area of Ethiopia. (Copyright: Frederic Courbet / Panos, Frederic Courbet / Panos)

Ethiopia Drought

  • Donate online.
  • Download an Ethiopia Drought Emergency Donation Form [Adobe PDF, 69 Kb] and post it or fax it to us,
  • Call our toll free number 1800 76 00 11 and donate over the phone,
  • Send us a cheque/money order payable to Save the Children Australia. Forward it to Ethiopia Drought Emergency Appeal, Save the Children, PO Box 340, Fitzroy VIC 3065. Make sure to enclose your name and address for receipting purposes.

Save the Children is appealing for US$20 million to help around 900,000 people, including 325,000 children, who are bearing the brunt of the food crisis in Ethiopia.

Our emergency response includes providing nearly 50,000 children with life-saving high-energy foods through emergency feeding centres.

Children in some of the poorest areas of the country are already struggling to survive on wild nettles. Around 75,000 children are severely malnourished and could die if they do not receive emergency treatment.

A combination of drought and escalating food prices has left 4.6 million people urgently in need of food in Ethiopia. Around 759,000 of these are children under the age of five, a group which is particularly vulnerable to effects of malnutrition such as weight loss and disease.

What we're doing

With more than 800 people on the ground, Save the Children is launching a major emergency response in six of the worst-affected areas in Ethiopia to deliver life-saving health, nutrition, agricultural, sanitation and child protection assistance to suffering communities.

Our emergency work includes:

  • Running emergency feeding centres, to provide around 48,000 children with high-energy foods as part of an intensive feeding programme
  • Helping around 250,000 children and their families to keep their animals alive by providing veterinary drugs and animal feed
  • Setting up work schemes which will provide parents with a way to earn food and money
  • Providing emergency health care, clean water, and sanitation items such as soap to nearly 160,000 children

The problems the poorest households face in trying to grow food are being compounded by the dramatic increases in food prices in recent months. Many parents are both short of food and unable to afford to buy more to make up the shortfall to feed their families.

Save the Children has a wealth of emergency relief experience in all regions of Ethiopia and is active in providing emergency assistance in collaboration with government and communities, with programmes focusing on emergency nutrition, health, water and sanitation, agricultural and livelihoods, and animal health interventions in the areas most critically affected by the emergency.


How you can help

  • Donate online.
  • Download an Ethiopia Drought Emergency Donation Form [Adobe PDF, 69 Kb] and post it or fax it to us, or
  • Call our toll free number 1800 76 00 11 and donate over the phone.
  • Send us a cheque/money order payable to Save the Children Australia. Forward it to Ethiopia Drought Emergency Appeal, Save the Children, PO Box 340, Fitzroy VIC 3065. Make sure to enclose your name and address for receipting purposes.