Past Efforts

Past Efforts to Provide Relief

Considering the severe conditions in Ethiopia, the Government and the United Nations decided to launch a joint appeal for 1.46 million metric tons of food aid and $81.1 million non-food assistance to help over 14 million people in 2003.

The International Medical Corps (IMC), along with Save the Children, implemented emergency nutrition and health programs in the West Hararghe Zone in the Oromia Region, as well as the Sidama and Wolita Zones in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region. They focused on the treatment of severely malnourished children and the training of staff to provide proper nutritional services. They aimed to develop the capacity of local institutions and communities by establishing four Stabilization Centers as referral centers for severely malnourished children, forming 45 community-based outpatient therapeutic program sites (OTPs) to support treatment at community/home level, and expanding the local nutrition surveillance capacity through the Nutritional Early Warning System (NEWS). In July 2003, more than 2,500 malnourished children were admitted to feeding centers and scheduled with follow-up visits to ensure they did not return to previous malnourished condition. In Fall 2003, IMC joined with HBO and Cable Positive to present the documentary film series, “Pandemic: Facing AIDS” They used this approach to focus greater attention and awareness on the global Aids crisis.

In 2000, the Lutheran World Relief joined with the Roman Catholic and Ethiopian Orthodox relief agencies in a $32 million program to secure, transport and distribute about 89,000 metric tons of food.

In November of 1994, President Clinton called for renewed commitment to the crises in Africa. His initiative on the Horn of Africa represented a collaborative effort among African states, non-governmental associations, concerned citizens, Inter-Governmental Authority on Drought and Development (IGADD) and international donor community to address the root causes of drought in the country. He intended to start a discussion about this topic with the paper “Breaking the Cycle of Despair: President Clinton's Initiative on the Horn of Africa Building a Foundation for Food Security and Crisis Prevention in the Greater Horn of Africa.” He believed people needed to start looking at the problem as a whole and creating new and different ways to solve the problem, together.

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Over the past 20 years, The US Agency for International Development (USAID) in Ethiopia has distributed 2 million tons of food aid. They are also supporting various initiatives to help keep girls in school and improve the quality of teaching.

In 1993, the WFP collected $661.5 million for development work worldwide. In 2002, it collected $203 million that went to projects which were already underway.

Since Fall of 2004, villagers have spent up to 6 hours a day working to develop good water systems in Tigray. 45 village water projects: hand-dug wells, boreholes, spring catchments, and a rainwater harvesting system has been completed in the region, benefiting over 23,000 people and one school. By October 2005, the number of completed regions will rise to 76, which will bring safe water to over 32,000 people and six schools. These projects have a huge impact on the people living in this region of Ethiopia.

In Addition to all of these past efforts, many organizations, to this day are taking donations to help in any way possible, the people suffering in Ethiopia.