Canada's minister of finance made a personal donation towards the growing humanitarian crisis in East Africa on Sunday just as the UN is set to announce that the famine zone in Somalia has grown.
Jim Flaherty visited World Vision's Mississauga office to promote the East Africa Drought Relief Fund. Under the program, Canadians can make a donation that will be matched dollar-to-dollar by the federal government.
"Canadians have a strong tradition of helping ease the suffering of others and have a history of supporting those in Africa," he said on Sunday.
Flaherty's unspecified contribution comes days after Canada announced it is increasing its donation to aid efforts by $50 million, in addition to $22.3 million already pledged for the drought-ravaged Horn of Africa.
Somali communities in Canada are also doing their part to help the conflicted region. Ottawa's local Somali community recently raised $12,000 in relief funds.
Somalia's southern region was officially declared a famine by the United Nations last week.
The UN is now about to significantly expand the areas classified as famine because officials say that the situation is going to get much worse in the coming weeks and months.
It fears that tens of thousands have already died and seasonal rains, if they take place, are still months away.
Australian foreign minister Kevin Rudd said on Sunday that Somalia's famine will be five times worse by Christmas unless the international community increases its food aid.
"Six months from now will be too late. It's as simple as that. Act now. Christmas is too late. This is an avoidable catastrophe if urgent action is taken today," Rudd told The Associated Press on Sunday.
The UN is seeking US$300 million within the next two months to help the estimated 11.3 million people in need of emergency assistance in the area.
Britain has given about $146 million in aid, the United States has so far offered an additional $28 million, Spain $10 million, Germany $8.5 million and the European Union $8 million.
Meanwhile, refugee camps have been flooded by the desperate who have walked for days without food or water to reach relief.
"Some have walked days, some up to six weeks," Josette Sheeran of the United Nations World Food Program said on Sunday. "Some have lost children along the way; and there is no food where they came from and no food along the way."
The Dollo Ado refugee camp in Ethiopia has nearly 114, 500 Somali refugees, with more than 18,000 arriving this month. The camp needs 13,000 more tents for shelter.
The al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab militia, the most dangerous militant group in Somalia, has exacerbated the drought crisis saying that it will prevent international aid workers from operating in the territories it controls in southern Somalia.
Ottawa will continue to match donations through the East Africa Drought Relief Fund until mid-September.
With files from The Associated Press and CTV's Richard Madan
