Aid agencies Hong Kong Red Cross, Oxfam Hong Kong, Plan International Hong Kong, Save the Children Hong Kong and The Amity Foundation joined efforts today to garner greater support from the Hong Kong public to help millions of people facing hunger in East Africa.

Hunger on a massive scale is looming across East Africa. Drought and conflict have left nearly 20 million people on the brink of starvation and in urgent need of assistance in the region. More than 800,000 children under five are severely malnourished. People in South Sudan, Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia are in immediate need of assistance such as food, water and medical treatment.

The total number of people who are food insecure in South Sudan, which declared a famine in February 2017, is expected to rise to nearly half of the country population that is 5.5 million in July if nothing is done to curb the severity and spread of the food crisis.

The five aid agencies are already on the ground delivering life-saving aid, such as food, treatment for malnutrition, emergency medical services and clean drinking water. They are ready to scale-up their humanitarian support, but they need more funding to reach the millions of people in urgent need.

In June, members of the public can show their support by joining the campaign ‘A Meal for Meals’. They can opt to eat simply and upload a photo or video of their meal on their own social media platforms, and donate the cost of a meal to any of the NGOs they would like to support, as well as to encourage their friends around to join and support this good deed.

The people in hunger in Africa cannot wait anymore. Unless we act now the number of deaths will drastically increase.