Sahel Needs Olympian Effort from Canadians

Published on Wednesday August 08, 2012

The Sahel region of West Africa has been in the grips of a drought and food crisis for months now. Several calls to
action from the UN and international emergency relief agencies, along with the launch of a national joint appeal by the Humanitarian Coalition on June 14, have generated important support and donations from Canadians. But with 18 million people, including one million children, at risk of hunger, it is clear that more will be required to save lives.

That is why the Humanitarian Coalition welcomes this week’s decision by the Canadian government to match
Canadian donations dollar-for-dollar for the next eight weeks to support relief efforts in the Sahel. In addition to prior contributions of $47.5 million, the renewed focus on this region of Africa sends a powerful message that Canada embraces its role as a global citizen.

The responsibility to look out for the less fortunate includes the duty to respond to warning signs before extreme circumstances develop. In the Sahel, malnutrition indicators have been telling us that a disastrous situation will inevitably follow inaction. Past crises have taught us that waiting can be dangerous and so we must keep the momentum of the humanitarian response going forward at a steady pace.

In making the announcement of a matching fund program, International Cooperation Minister Julian Fantino, through his parliamentary secretary Lois Brown, stressed the importance of acting now to alleviate the needless suffering of vulnerable populations. Our member agencies (CARE Canada, Oxfam Canada, Oxfam-Québec, Plan Canada, Save the Children Canada) have been doing exactly that for decades in both urban and remote communities in Chad, Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Senegal, Niger, Cameroon and other countries in the region.

So far, the Humanitarian Coalition and its member agencies have raised more than $1.2 million to help scale up their response to the food crisis. The essential work they are doing on nutrition centres, child education programs, resilience mechanisms, cash-for-work initiatives and assistance to pastoralist communities and Malian refugees and internally displaced persons requires endurance and determination. CIDA’s matching fund is just the kind of motivation that allows for a renewal of energy along the way. But the finish line is far ahead and we must cross it together to beat hunger in the Sahel.

Patricia Erb, Robert Fox, Rosemary McCarney, Kevin McCort, Pierre Véronneau and Nicolas Moyer