Christian Aid Global

Millions of people across the Sahel region of West Africa are in need of urgent support as longstanding food shortages develop, once again, into a crisis. Christian Aid's Amanda Farrant reports from northern Burkina Faso where droughts and failed harvests have left communities facing the prospect of famine.

In October 2011 Tropical Depression 12E swept through Central America, bringing with it huge levels of devastation in El Salvador in particular. The storm may not have been given a big name, but it had a big impact, and caused more flooding than Hurricane Mitch in 1998.

Despite the scale of this disaster, very few lives were lost, and this is thanks to the work of Christian Aid partners over the past ten years. In this podcast we hear from Carolina Amaya who works with partner UNES (Salvadorian Ecological Unit). She describes the scale of the floods, but also the way in which the communities they work with are far better prepared to face the storm.

In December last year, delegates from all over the world met in Durban for the annual UN climate change negotiations. A deal was struck which was heralded as paving the way for a new agreement on emissions reductions. But beyond the hype, what does the outcome really mean and what are the implications for the countries most at risk from climate change? Christian Aid's senior adviser on climate change Mohamed Adow explains.

It’s exactly 12 months today (January 25th) since the start of dramatic changes in Egypt. In this podcast Phoebe Aranki-Stoves, Christian Aid’s programme manager for Egypt talks about how Christian Aid partners responded to the social and economic challenges following the popular uprisings, and answers the critical question: where now for Egypt?

There are an estimated 400 million poor people living in India, one of the most unequal societies in the world. While economic development over recent decades has created pockets of wealth, poverty remains entrenched and widespread. In this podcast, Christian Aid’s Anand Kumar talks about the importance of tackling inequality in India and addressing the deep structural causes of poverty based on caste, ethnic, gender and religious discrimination.

http://www.christianaid.org.uk/whatwedo/asia/india.aspx

Tahmina shares her moving story of how she has come to live positively with HIV. Despite facing the trauma of losing both her young daughter and husband, with the support of Christian Aid's partner in Tajikistan, the Centre for Mental Health and HIV/Aids, she has re-made her life and become a beacon of support for other women living with HIV.

There are a staggering 1.4 million Kenyan children who have lost one or both parents as a result of HIV. The luckiest will see grandparents and other family and community members steps in to provide love and care. But many more will be left to fend for themselves. In her fourth and final reflection from Kenya Amy Merone, regional coordinator for Oxford, looks back on her visit to a children’s home run by Christian Aid partner KENWA in Machakos.

Drought combined with rising food prices has left the east and the horn of Africa, especially Kenya and Ethiopia, facing a food crisis.

In August 2011, Christian Aid’s Branwen Niclas travelled to Kenya to find out how Christian Aid’s partner Christian Community Services (CCS) is helping communities face some of the driest conditions in 60 years.

In this podcast, Branwen talks to Timothy Makutu, of CCS, about the effects of the drought and what is being done to alleviate the impact on the most vulnerable. She also reflects on her experience of meeting those most affected.

For more information on our work in East Africa, and to donate to the appeal, visit:

The scale of the HIV epidemic in Kenya is so vast that an estimated 1.4 million children have lost one or both parents as a result of the virus. When Amy Merone, Christian Aid’s regional coordinator for Oxford visited Korogocho slum in Nairobi she found that many children – like 15-year-old Jackline – have been left to cope alone. Christian Aid partner KENWA is a lifeline for children like Jackline, providing food parcels for her young family.

At around 1.5 million, Kenya has the fourth highest number of people living with HIV. The cost of responding to the virus has been immense for the country and while antiretrovirals and other medicines are provided free, nongovernmental organisations have had to step in to help meet people's other needs. Ahead of Christian Aid's Christmas Appeal, which looks at at a project run by ADS, Nyanza, Christian Aid and Virgin Unite, the non profit foundation of the Virgin Group, regional coordinator Amy Merone visited Kenya to find out more about our work. In this short reflection edited by BBC Merseyside, Amy talks about how this work is changing lives.