As you may have seen on the news recently, the Horn of Africa is in the midst of a devastating famine. I recently had the opportunity to travel to Da’daab, refugee camps in eastern Africa where some 440,000 people are living with around 1,000 arriving each day, although they were built for fewer than half of that.  There are currently 13.3 million people affected by this famine in the Horn of Africa. Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Djibouti are experiencing the worst drought in almost 20 years, and are in desperate need of international assistance.

As is the case in most crises, women and children are the ones that suffer the brunt of the disaster. Because of their status at the bottom of the social and cultural totem pole, women and children have a much harder time safely accessing nutritional food and clean water.  To give you a better idea of the severity of the current crisis consider this statistic: a famine can officially be declared when at least 2 children in every 10,000 are dying every day. Current death rates in southern Somalia are higher than 4 children for every 10,000, and in certain regions that number could be as high as 13 for every 10,000.  In their search for food, water and shelters, mothers have had to leave the weakest of their children by the side of the road in order to try and save the rest.  No mother – ever – should have to make that choice.

A child dies in Somalia every 6 minutes as a result of the famine. This is unthinkable in the year 2011 with all of the knowledge and resources that exist to help people learn to farm successfully in harsh climates.   While, obviously, there are political issues that must be handled to ensure safety within Somalia, there are other things we, as American mothers, can do.

Moms and families in the US are generous and patriotic; we reach out when we see others in need both at home and around the world. Most importantly, we can all use our voices to help to encourage the U.S. government and the international community to make the famine in the Horn of Africa a priority. As a mom, it only takes a small action to make a huge difference. Whether you take a moment of your time to sign a petition at ONE.org or to support the humanitarian organizations currently on the ground in Africa like Oxfam, GAIN , and the World Food Programme, every action is important. Organizations like Future Fortified are providing women and children with the essential nutrients they need, and for only $10, you could be responsible for the donation of 750 packages of micronutrients to the Horn of Africa.

One mom alone can only accomplish so much, but one mother, plus another mother, plus two more mothers and so on can have an enormous impact on policies. We cannot underestimate the power of our collective voice in times like these when moms on the other side of the world so desperately need our help.

As mothers we need to commit ourselves to making a difference in the Horn of Africa and ensuring that a crisis like this doesn’t happen again and the world takes action to make these mothers and their children a priority. Together, we are unstoppable.