US first lady Jill Biden, on visit to Horn of Africa, appeals to wealthy nations for drought relief
- The drought was a key focus of Biden’s visit to Kenya, with another engagement looking at food security and farming in a changing climate
- Biden’s visit was the first by a senior White House official to the continent since her husband came to power in 2021
US First Lady Jill Biden on Sunday visited drought-affected communities in Kenya and appealed for wealthy nations to give more as the Horn of Africa suffers its driest conditions in decades.
The United States has funded the lion’s share of the aid budget for the disaster which has killed millions of livestock and destroyed crops.
“We cannot be the only ones. We have to have other countries join us in this global effort to help these people of the region,” said Biden at a relief point in Kajiado, a bone-dry county south of Nairobi.
“Unfortunately, you know there is the war in Ukraine. There is the earthquake in Turkey. I mean there are a lot of competing interests but obviously here... people are starving.”
Biden heard from parents struggling to feed their children and communities unable to source enough water after five consecutive failed rainy seasons.