Bishops are asking parishes throughout Ireland to undertake a special Church collection on 6 and 7 November to invite the public to support Trócaire in its work to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in East Africa. Bishops made the request following discussions at their Autumn General Meeting which concluded in Maynooth on Wednesday 6 October.

Bishops noted with deep concern the increase in the number of people worldwide threatened by humanitarian crises, which are driven by the triple threat of the Covid-19 pandemic, conflict and climate change.  Bishops expressed particular support for the people of East Africa, where up to 30 million people in Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Kenya, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are currently face life-threatening food shortages.

Trócaire, as the overseas development agency of the Bishops’ Conference, is currently addressing this and many other crises worldwide. 

Bishops also discussed that in the countries where Trócaire works, less than 5% of the population have been vaccinated for Covid and infection rates are up to 50%.  An additional 200 million people have fallen into poverty globally as a result of the Covid crisis.  Bishops highlighted that wealthier countries, while protecting their most vulnerable citizens, also have a moral responsibility to ensure that the populations of developing countries have equal, rapid and effective access to Covid vaccine coverage.

For more on Trócaire’s East Africa appeal see www.trocaire.org.

ENDS