Charity News: Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu Twenty5 campaign for Ethiopia. Video Added

Survivor: Biadglign Befekadu still bears the scars of the famine to this day.

It is twenty five years since news of the dreadful famine in Ethiopia hit our televisions screens with its distressing pictures of orphaned and abandoned children. In the month when the Ethiopian government is again calling for food aid, St Matthew’s Children’s Fund Ethiopia (SMCF) is launching its Twenty5 campaign, to raise funds for the longer-term investment which is so vital in enabling communities, and their children, to withstand the effects of future famines exacerbated by climate change.

The campaign aims to fund work with a number of poor urban communities throughout Ethiopia so that they can better care for their orphaned and ‘at risk’ children. The work will include promoting urban agriculture and environmental improvement, providing water and sanitation, setting up income generation training, women’s self-help groups and also strengthening the community’s own capacity to care for its members.

Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu

The campaign is endorsed by the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu who says: “It is 25 years since Michael Buerk’s groundbreaking reports from Ethiopia which drew the attention of a generation to the devastation caused by the famine of 1984. Since that time the work of organisations like the St Matthew’s Children’s Fund Ethiopia have done much to alleviate the poverty and suffering in this proud country. Please support the Twenty5 appeal for SMCF and its work in giving children a family, an education and the skills to earn their living in Ethiopia.”

www.twenty5ethiopia.org

Peter Jones, Director of SMCF Ethiopia says: “The Twenty5 campaign is aimed at ensuring Ethiopian people need never again experience the devastating effects of widespread famine. By supporting the campaign, you will enable exactly the long-term development that communities need to provide for a healthy future.”

“The Twenty5 campaign does not give emergency aid, instead it invests in communities over a number of years, enabling people to improve their education, childcare, health and environment, so that they are better placed to overcome food shortages.

“Since the last dreadful famine 25 years ago, SMCF and its Ethiopian partner JeCCDO have already helped many communities to manage their resources, and few people have been badly affected by the current famines in areas where JeCCDO is working.”

The Bishop of Ethiopia, Rt Rev Andrew Proud adds: “NGOs come and go, and in this country of such overwhelming need, the turnover is high. The SMCF/JeCCDO partnership is different. Through SMCF’s professional approach to funding over the years, JeCCDO has grown from a small, local NGO, offering community-based interventions in three or four places, to being a major national NGO. JeCCDO is now a conduit to external funding for others and a beacon of good practice, inspiring many local organisations to try to achieve even more for the poor of this country. I have no hesitation in commending SMCF and JeCCDO to you as cost-efficient, highly effective organisations, who will use your money wisely and for the greatest good.”

Details of the campaign can be found at www.twenty5ethiopia.org.