The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC) and other Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement partners are responding to existing and emerging humanitarian needs.

This year, the ICRC has distributed cash to more than 150,000 households, helping nearly 1 million people in south and central Somalia buy a month’s worth of food. The ICRC works to strengthen resilience through seeds, tools and livestock care so that residents can better absorb recurrent shocks. And its medical professionals are running stabilisation centres in places like Somalia where kids are getting specialised nutrition care.

The IFRC and its membership have teams delivering aid in hard-to-reach communities in nearly every corner of the globe. To date, staff and volunteers from Somali Red Crescent, Ethiopian Red Cross and Kenya Red Cross have collectively reached more than 704,000 people affected by the drought, connecting them with health care and cash assistance, as well as water, sanitation and hygiene services.

Australian Red Cross Global Hunger Crisis Appeal supports people experiencing hunger around the world. Donations from Australian supporters are sent to countries with the most urgent needs. Currently, Somalia, Ethiopia, and South Sudan in East Africa are the focus of this global appeal.

That support may include:

• Humanitarian assistance to people experiencing hunger and food insecurity. This assistance will be delivered by Red Cross and Red Crescent partners on the ground, through IFRC or ICRC Appeals, and may include activities such as food, health, water and sanitation, cash and voucher assistance as well as protection initiatives.
• Specialist aid workers to assist local teams to respond to the crisis.
• Program support and monitoring and evaluation costs of the assistance provided on the ground.

Donations over $2 to the Global Hunger Crisis Appeal are tax-deductible in Australia.

Australian Red Cross will not deduct more than 10 per cent of money raised to cover essential support costs such as receipting donations, IT costs, costs to send the money overseas and overheads. Any interest earned on donations will be invested back into the appeal.