Washington, D.C.– Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) co-chair Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva and CPC Peace and Security Task Force co-chair Rep. Mike Honda today released the following statement on the famine in East Africa:

“Today we remember and recognize the devastating drought and famine that threaten the lives of millions of men, women and children in Eastern Africa. The United Nations has declared it the first famine this century and the worst drought in decades. More than 12 million people are now in an hour-by-hour fight for survival.

The stories are truly heartbreaking: parents and children walking for weeks in search of aid, women attacked upon entering new villages, children starving to death. According to UNICEF, one million children are at risk of dying. USAID Assistant Administrator Nancy E. Lindborg has testified that what used to be a ten-year drought cycle is now occurring every other year. This exacerbates already rising food prices and resource conflicts in the region. It is an unmitigated disaster that is steadily killing the men, women and children of an entire region of the planet.

Wesincerely hope the millions of families, individuals, parents and children at risk find sanctuary from thisterrible disaster.”