Scottish Catholic Observer

The Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF) has launched an urgent appeal to help get food and water to thousands of people being hit by famine and hunger.

The United Nations has warned that more than 20 million people could face starvation in the worst humanitarian crisis since its creation in 1945.

Working as part of the global Caritas network of Catholic international aid charities, SCIAF is already working with local organisations in South Sudan and Yemen to get emergency food supplies and water to those in need.

But the situation will get worse in the spring and summer months and SCIAF’s director Alistair Dutton has warned that many lives will be lost unless food aid going to the region is massively increased.

“An appalling catastrophe is unfolding before our eyes in East Africa. In South Sudan alone over a million people face the very real possibility of starvation in the weeks and months ahead,” he said. “Many other countries and their people face a similar fate. The simple truth is, unless we increase the emergency food aid to the region now, many innocent men, women and children will die.”

“SCIAF is working as part of the global Caritas network of Catholic international aid charities and with other local organisations to get food and water to thousands of people in South Sudan and surrounding countries, but the scale of the crisis means much more is needed,” Mr Dutton added. “I urge everyone to please give whatever they can to help us get more food, water and other essential aid to those in need.”

To make a donation to SCIAF’s East Africa Food Crisis Appeal visit: www.sciaf.org.uk or call 0141 354 5555.

—This story ran in full in the March 17 edition print of the SCO, available in parishes.