Mercy-USA for Aid and Development is urgently appealing for your support to fund life-saving aid to thousands of Somali children and their families affected by armed conflict, drought and poverty.
 
Somalia, a country that suffers from endemic poverty and has endured cycles of severe drought, catastrophic flooding and political instability, is now facing an acute humanitarian emergency caused by continued armed conflict. The United Nations reports that the situation in Somalia is one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.
On January 29, 2010, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported that nearly 3.2 million people, between 32% to 42% of the estimated population, are in need of assistance.
Highest Levels of Malnutrition in the World
"Somalia has the highest levels of malnutrition in the world", with up to 300,000 children acutely malnourished annually, Hilde Frarfjord Johnson, UNICEF's deputy executive director, said.
Anemic mothers and inadequate nutrition were the main causes of high malnutrition levels in the war-torn country, she said, with most cases in south-central Somalia. Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) rates of more than 20 percent have been reported, with the figure rising to 28 percent in some areas. GAM rates of 30 percent indicate a famine situation.
 
Mercy-USA’s Response
Mercy-USA for Aid and Development is carrying out the following life-saving programs :
* Ten supplemental and therapeutic feeding centers that, from January 2007 to June 2010, have examined and treated about 44,790 malnourished children. These children and their families also received take home food rations provided by UNICEF and WFP.
 
* Seven Mother and Child Health Clinics (MCHs) that, from January 2009 to June 2010, have received approximately 62,000 visits from women and children seeking treatment, including about 35,650 visits from children under the age of five. These MCHs have also provided approximately 8,100 immunizations to children (including about 6,550 to children under the age of one) and more than 2,060 to women, including expectant mothers. Mercy-USA's MCHs have provided over 18,330 vitamin A, iron and folic acid tablets to women and children, as well as providing approximately 12,450 OB/GYN services to women in their communities.
 
* From October 2008 to June 2010, Mercy-USA dug, repaired and rehabbed 119 wells in Somalia. Thirty wells were dug and rehabbed in the Middle Shabelle region, 34 more were dug/repaired in the Hiraan region, 8 wells were rehabbed and dug in Middle Juba, 27 wells in the Galgadud region, and 20 wells in the Mudug region.
These 119 vital water sources are now providing safe drinking water to communities with populations totaling approximately 192,000 persons, as well as to over 300,000 livestock. Many of the beneficiaries are pastoralists or agro-pastoralists and thus depend on raising and herding livestock to make their living and indeed for their very survival.
Since 1997, Mercy-USA has played a vital role in providing safe drinking water in Somalia, digging and repairing 214 wells. Communities with a combined population of over 458,000 persons are benefiting from this safe water program. According to studies carried out by UNICEF, only about one-third of families in Somalia have access to clean drinking water.
* Prevention of malaria through the distribution of approximately 20,600 insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) since January 2007.
* Nutrition support and health services for children, pregnant women and nursing mothers.
* Emergency and supplemental food rations for children and vulnerable families.
* Prevention of disease through immunization and vitamin A distribution.
* Provision of safe drinking water through chlorinating water sources, rehabbing and repairing existing wells, and digging new ones.
Please Help!
Please help children in Somalia and their families. You may send your contribution immediately through the secure online donation form or mail it to:
In the US:
Mercy-USA for Aid and Development
Attn: Somalia Relief
44450 Pinetree Drive, Suite 201
Plymouth, Michigan 48170-3869
In Canada:
Mercy USA for Aid and Development (Canada)
Attn: Somalia Relief
Fiesta RPO, PO Box 56102, 102 HWY # 8
Stoney Creek, ON L8G 5C9
If you have any questions or wish to donate over the telephone, you may call us at 1-800-55-MERCY (1-800-556-3729) or (734) 454-0011. Donations are tax deductible
(US Federal Tax ID No. 38-2846307 and Canada Revenue Agency Business No. 89458 5553 RR0001).Thank you for helping to ease the pain of the children of Somalia and their families.
 
 
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PS Many companies will match the donations of their employees. Please ask your company if it has such a matching gift program.
PPS Dedicated to alleviating human suffering and supporting individuals and their communities in their efforts to become more self-sufficient, Mercy-USA for Aid and Development
has had offices and programs in Somalia since 1993. M-USA is also a registered PVO (Private Voluntary Organization) with the United States Agency for International Development
(USAID), has special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), and is a member of the American Council for Voluntary International Action
(InterAction).
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Additional Background Information on Somalia
The severe fighting has compounded what was already one of the most difficult humanitarian situations in the world. After 20 years of armed conflict, tens of thousands of families are internally displaced in a country that lacks basic health services and infrastructure.
Somalia has one of the highest child and maternal mortality rates in the world. One in eight children dies before reaching the age of five and 1,600 women die for every 100,000 live births. Other social indicators for children are also among the worst in the world: one in three children is chronically malnourished, hardly a third of families have access to clean drinking water, just 30 per cent of children go to school and on average people only live to the age of 47, according to UNICEF.
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