Famine continues; aid should, too

It seems like we’ve stopped hearing about the food crisis in the Horn of Africa. Yet the famine is still affecting over 13 million people, more than the population of the entire Chicago area.

I recently attended an event with USAID Administrator Raj Shah, hosted by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. He shared several stories from his recent trip to the Horn. The one that touched me most was about mothers who had to carry their children for more than 50 miles, as they walk for days in the draining heat, to reach a refugee camp. Some mothers couldn’t physically carry two children, so “they had to make a choice that’s unimaginable, a choice no human being, and certainly no mother, should ever have to make, about which child to carry to safety and which to leave behind.”

Fortunately, mothers here don’t have to make such sacrifices, but this doesn’t give us an excuse to ignore someone else’s reality. We live in a global, interconnected world, and there is much we can and should do from Illinois. Many efforts are aimed at preventing new crises like these. Micro-insurance programs, human and animal vaccinations and agricultural assistance programs have helped millions of farmers become self-sustained and food-secure. Continuing this work is of the upmost importance.

Foreign aid is now more effective and necessary than ever, and we must preserve and increase funding for these lifesaving efforts. Join me in calling on Congress to protect the 1 percent of the federal budget that helps our global community prosper and improves our national security.

Tzviatko Chiderov

Glenview