FIFA donates $1m for Somalia relief

Posted by admin Africa & World Politics, Headlines Thursday, August 11th, 2011

GENEVA (AFP) – Football’s governing body said Thursday it will donate $1 million to the international Red Cross to support its famine relief efforts in Somalia.

“Approximately one-third of the donation will be used to finance the purchase and transportation of food, representing standard food rations for 25,000 families … over a period of one month,” FIFA said in a statement.

Malnourished and dehydrated 3-year old Sadir Ali cries in a crowded ward in Banadir Hospital in Mogadishu, Somalia. Somalia is gripped by a devastating drought and famine that has already killed tens of thousands and leaving many more, particularly young children and babies, in desperate need of emergency life-saving humanitarian assistance from the outside world. AFP PHOTO/AU-UN

“The remaining two-thirds will support all ICRC activities in the country,” it added.

The United Nations has declared a famine in the five worst-affected regions of Somalia including the capital Mogadishu — where up to 100,000 Somalis have fled to in recent weeks amid the region’s worst drought in decades.

-Vanguardwp_posts