The International Federation of Red Cross has launched an emergency appeal seeking 7.7 million Swiss francs to enable it support four Southern African Development Community (SADC) member states severely affected by drought, APA learned here Thursday.
The humanitarian organization said in a report on Thursday that it plans to deliver assistance to 81,000 people or 16,200 households affected by a worsening drought over the next few months in Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho and Namibia.
“The planned response reflects the current situation and information available at this time of the operation,” the report said.
The four targeted countries were selected bearing in mind that Red Cross Red Crescent network has ongoing operations in Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe, which are also facing food insecurity.
The report said the four countries would expand the federation network humanitarian response to eight countries in southern Africa.
“The selection of target communities is based on the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis and National Vulnerability Assessment (NVAC) reports.
“In consultations with the respective National Societies and in-country partners, the areas selected are where other non-Red Cross Red Crescent partners are not operational,” the report said.
KO/jn/APA