Africa / Asia: food crises
The Horn of Africa is in crisis with drought and food insecurity. 20 million are impacted or in need of aid; pray for the survival needs of both livestock and humans to be met after three failed rainy seasons back to back. In Somalia 4.3 million people are hungry, and people fear a repeat of the 2012 famine. In Ethiopia, the drought is compounding the humanitarian disaster of the war in the country’s north, while in neighbouring Kenya’s pastoralist zone, the loss of cattle is triggering raids and clashes between communities. In Myanmar farmers say the 2021 coup worsened food insecurity and is nothing short of a disaster. Humanitarian needs multiply and continue to spiral. One million people needed aid before the coup; now it’s 14 million. 500,000 people have been displaced since the coup, a quarter of the population is food insecure and violent new conflicts spread in a new wave of anti-coup militias. ‘There is fear everywhere’, one aid worker said.
A call to churches to help orphans
The World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) and World Without Orphans (WWO) are calling on churches to help in a crisis. The ‘Lancet Child and adolescent health modelling report’, by national and international government and non government organisations, estimates that over seven million children globally have lost a parent or caregiver due to Covid-19. They estimate that for every person killed by Covid, one child is orphaned or loses a caregiver. That equates to one child every six seconds facing a heightened risk of lifelong adversity unless given support in time. Rev Dr Rebecca Goropevsek said, ‘We encourage church leaders to read the report and prayerfully consider how the pandemic has affected families and children in their own context and what support they can offer. Pray for families that are safe and nurturing to adopt and foster orphans; and for communities to protect vulnerable children from adversity and violence.
Saudi Arabia: 81 died in mass execution
Saudi Arabia executed 81 people convicted of crimes ranging from killings to belonging to militant groups, the largest known mass execution carried out in the kingdom in its modern history. The number of executed surpassed even the toll of a 1980 mass execution of 63 militants convicted of seizing the Grand Mosque in Mecca in 1979, the worst-ever militant attack to target the kingdom and Islam's holiest site. The executions came as much of the world's attention remains focused on Russia's war on Ukraine. Death penalty cases in Saudi Arabia had dropped during the pandemic, though the kingdom continued to behead convicts under King Salman and his assertive son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The state-run Saudi press agency announced the executions included those convicted of murdering innocent men, women and children. The kingdom also said some belonged to al-Qaeda, IS and backers of Yemen's Houthi rebels.
Mozambique: jihadist conflict
After almost a week of walking and sleeping rough, three young men arrived at Nacaca, a displacement camp in Cabo Delgado province. They fled as far as they could get from the gunmen who attacked their village. A jihadist conflict has shaken Cabo Delgado for five years; al-Shabab has routed an under-equipped army, decapitated civilians, abducted young men, and enslaved women. Last June a coalition of southern African countries scattered the insurgents, but now al-Shabaab units are re-terrorising communities. They have depopulated northern Cabo Delgado, with at least 730,000 people (1/3rd of the population) fleeing to safer southern districts. The uprising began in 2017 but its origins go deeper, growing out of fury over state corruption and opposition to establishment Islam. The displaced are settling in a poor region. The chance of these former farmers and fishermen finding work are slim. The World Food Programme is only able to deliver half rations to camps and registered displaced living in communities.
