Charity plans new projects in drought-hit Horn of Africa

Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Ahmed Shaaban

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The Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Humanitarian Charity Establishment (MHCE) will undertake developmental projects in Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya.

The six projects planned will help the people in the Horn of Africa resist drought and famine.

These initiatives include digging and maintaining 73 water wells, apart from a mega project for developing irrigation ditches, and providing poor families with production facilities.

The projects represent the fourth stage of the ‘Help Them’ campaign which the charity launched in 2011 for helping the drought- and famine-hit countries.

“These projects are valued at Dh6.9 million,” said Ibrahim Bu Melha, Adviser to the Ruler of Dubai for Cultural and Humanitarian Affairs and Chairman of the MHCE Board of Trustees.

The MHCE would launch the fifth stage of the campaign in a month, he said. There will be bigger and more extensive development projects in the fifth stage.

Bu Melha expected that most fourth stage projects would be finished in a month because they needed time to be purchased and distributed to the beneficiaries. The water wells and clinic projects would be accomplished within six months, he said.

Some 20 water wells had already been restored in seven Somali provinces, including three in the north, two in the middle, along with Shebli and Bai governorates which were most affected by the drought, he said.
“These water wells, worth around Dh3 million, will help 250,000 Somalis return to their original areas.”
As for the irrigation ditches project, it is being carried out in some other provinces. “This spans the construction of 15km-long concert waterway — 1.5m wide and 2m deep.

“The waterway, branching out from the river, helps around 5,000 farmers to irrigate their farms and plants via big pumps,” he added.

Meanwhile, the charity has dug 33 water wells, worth Dh415,000 in Ethiopia. “We have also dug 20 water wells, worth Dh117,000 in Djibouti, and purchased a 6-tonne vehicle for transporting water from the river to water tanks in Kenya, besides other projects, all worth Dh350,000.” Bu Melha said.

“The establishment has also distributed 20 water tanks with the capacity of 100,000 gallons of water, as well as 100 carts for transporting water to villages and camps.”

Bu Melha said as many as 200 Somali families were benefiting from the cows and goats projects, valued at Dh442,000 and Dh368,000 in turn. “We have also distributed sewing machines worth Dh276,000 to 300 families in Somalia.”

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