Summer is around the corner, and in Washington DC that means one thing: food truck season. This week Oxfam is getting in on the food truck action, but hungry lunch-goers are in for a surprise when they go to place an order. Oxfam won’t be serving any food.
That is because going hungry is the reality for 30 million people in Somalia, Nigeria, Yemen, and South Sudan, where a massive food crisis and extreme hunger have set in, with 10 million facing emergency or famine-like conditions. The crisis is a result of a combination of factors: drought, climate change, conflict, and poor governance. The United Nations has called this the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II, and estimates that $4.4 billion is needed by the end of June to adequately respond and prevent millions from starvation. With millions already suffering, anything less than swift action will have deadly consequences for families and lasting effects on communities for years to come.
Oxfam’s Famine Food Truck is taking to the streets of Washington to raise awareness of the dire situation and to inspire action. Congress took an important step this month approving $990 million in emergency funding for famine relief, which will provide immediate relief for the next few months. Unfortunately though, famines don’t end with our fiscal years, and President Trump has proposed a budget for next year that would drastically cut both humanitarian and development assistance.
The proposed cuts would significantly hamper poverty-fighting programs around the world. From global health programs that fight HIV and malaria and provide maternal health services, to programs that help ensure girls can go to school and food security programs that can help prevent future famines. Elimination of these programs will hit the poorest and most vulnerable the hardest, sacrificing recent global progress and US global leadership in the process.
We’re asking Congress to reject the administration’s draconian cuts by protecting the international affairs budget. Join us by calling your representative and ask them to fully fund the international affairs budget at $60 billion. Millions of lives and American values are at stake.
Text FAMINE TRUCK to 97779 to be connected to your Member of Congress now!