Amelia Che (third from left)
Macau Famine 2018, an event organized by World Vision of Macau Association, started yesterday with the theme “Hunger – Violence in Disguise.” The aim of the event is to call for locals to pay attention to refugees’ needs, and the violence that is often linked to famines and scarcity in general.
Hosted by World Vision of Macau Association, the group emphasized that war, poverty and climate change are the main causes of hunger.
Speaking at the ceremony, Amelia Che, manager of World Vision of Macau Association said, “815 million people in the world are still in hunger, and half of them live in conflict-affected countries. At the same time, the number of refugees in the world has reached 22.5 million, and half are children under 18.”
Macau Famine 2018 will raise funds for refugees living in Syria, South Sudan and Rakhine State in Myanmar, where events beyond their control have left many families incapable of providing their children with food and clothing.
The total number of refugees for the three regions has reached 8 million, and a significant number of these refugees lack food security and are acutely malnourished.
According to data provided by the association, there are 1.31 million residents in Syria who need humanitarian aid, while over 4 million people in South Sudan have lost their homes and are still displaced.
Over 60 percent of the refugees in Bangladesh are children under the age of 18, and 21 percent of its refugee children under the age of five are malnourished.
This year, Che is aiming to surpass the target fundraising amount of MOP1.1 million.
The manager told the Times that the group raised MOP1 million last year, a little less than its goal.
“This year, we really want to meet the target. The needs are very specific and we want to let residents know more about this [initiative],” she said.
Last Year, World Vision of Macau Association conducted fund-raising activities including “Skip-A-Meal,” “10-hour Famine” and “Red Pocket Campaign”.
The funds were to support World Vision’s food security, health and nutrition, and livelihood projects in African countries such as South Sudan, Zimbabwe and Somalia. LV
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