U.S. politics keeping Canadians’ attention off African famine: aid group
OTTAWA — International Development Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau says a federal program to match donations for the East African famine generated $21.3 million from Canadians.
The amount is one of the smallest responses to a Canadian government matching donation program since they initiated the idea for the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 — and at least one aid agency thinks the distraction of the political drama in the United States might bear some of the blame.
An estimated 20 million people face possible starvation in Somalia, South Sudan, Nigeria and Yemen in a drought and conflict-induced famine that a United Nations official has called the worst humanitarian crisis since the Second World War.
After the United Nations sought nearly $6.3 billion in urgent aid for the region, Bibeau announced the Famine Relief Fund would match dollar for dollar all donations to eligible organizations between March 17 and June 30.