UAE authorities have started distributing food packets in Lebanon, India, Jordan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.
Food parcels containing staples such as flour, rice, oil, sugar, and dates are being given to needy people in these five countries.
The initiative is being organised by Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives (MBRGI) and the food drive is being carried out by the Food Banking Regional Network (FBRN) and the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Humanitarian and Charity Establishment (MBRCH).
FBRN is distributing long-life food items while MBRCH is distributing food parcels containing basic staples such as flour, rice, oil, sugar and dates to beneficiaries.
Announced last month, One Billion Meals encourages people to donate money to feed those in need. It will run until the target is met.
The campaign aims to help the vulnerable in 50 countries, supporting efforts to achieve the UN's Sustainable Development Goal 2 to end hunger by 2030.
The initiative will give people the basic ingredients needed to prepare nutritious meals or instant e-vouchers for food supplies in co-operation with local authorities in beneficiary countries.
The One Billion Meals initiative is an extension of the 100 Million Meals campaign, which was launched during Ramadan 2021. At the time, it successfully distributed 220 million meals across 47 nations – double its initial target – with the participation of Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Humanitarian and Charity Establishment teams.
Last year's 100 Million Meals campaign provided food parcels and vouchers to millions across four continents, including Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, Sudan, Yemen, Tunisia, Iraq, Egypt, Kosovo, Brazil, Benin, Burundi, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Senegal, Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, Angola, Sierra Leone, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.
How to donate
The One Billion Meals campaign website has details of several options for donors.
Money can be pledged online, either monthly or by a one-off donation. People can donate by SMS message through Etisalat or du, or money can be sent via bank transfer.
For big monetary donations and related enquiries, people can contact the campaign’s team on 800 9999.
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
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The years Ramadan fell in May
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
