The City of London Corporation has donated £25,000 to theBritish Red Cross" East Africa Food Crisis Appeal to support thecharity"s work to provide emergency relief to the area.

The donation has been approved today (Thursday 14 July) byAlderman Michael Bear, Lord Mayor of the City of London, and RogerChadwick, Chairman of the City of London"s Finance Committee.

The British Red Cross says that more than ten million people inthe Horn of Africa are facing severe drought, following very poorrainfall in the region, which includes Somalia, Kenya, Djibouti,Ethiopia and Uganda. The driest period in 60 years has caused cropfailures and the death of livestock. High and increasing staplefood prices, as well as regional conflict, are combining with theweather to make a bad situation even worse.

Michael Bear, Lord Mayor of the City of London said:"The British Red Cross does sterling work to respond to hundredsof global disasters, including devastating floods and earthquakes,every year. My colleagues and I at the City of London Corporationare happy to offer our support to this latest worthy cause, in thehope that it provides some measure of relief to people in EastAfrica."The City of London Corporation has a history of respondingswiftly to humanitarian appeals, including early gifts to appealsfor Darfur, Southern Africa and Pakistan. In March last year, theCity Corporation donated £25,000 to the British Red Cross" Libyaand Region Appeal.