Urgent Appeal - East Africa Drought




The drought affecting the Eastern Horn of Africa is the worst the region has seen in 60 years. Millions of families have been affected by massive water and food shortages. The drought and ongoing conflict in Somalia is causing families to flee their homes, with thousands arriving at refugee camps in Kenya and Ethiopia every day.  

The need for shelter is massive and ShelterBox is responding to help the most vulnerable. 

ShelterBox Response Team (SRT) member Mike Greenslade, spoke from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital. "The people fleeing the famine have only what they can carry and the need for emergency shelter is enormous. Plans and logistics are in place to move aid quickly to the worst affected areas". 

Children are particularly vulnerable to the famine. In Ethiopia, ShelterBox is working in partnership with Save the Children to provide shelter for refugee families fostering orphans and unaccompanied minors.

Canadian SRT member Dave Hallett from Kingston, Ontario is on his way to Ethiopia to join the relief effort. 

ShelterBox is working closely with the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) in Kenya. The refugee camps in Dadaab, 100 km from the Kenya-Somalia border, were originally designed to accommodate 90,000 refugees but latest figures indicate that close to 400,000 people are living in and around the camps. 

To date, ShelterBox has committed emergency shelter and lifesaving supplies for up to 3,600 families in Kenya and Ethiopia and stands ready to continue helping those in greatest need.