Caritas Australia CEO advocates for global poor in Canberra

This week Caritas Australia CEO, Kirsty Robertson, joins 40 Christian women leaders as part of the Micah Women Leaders Delegation, to urge Australia's political leaders to prevent impending humanitarian crisis.

The combined threats of conflict, COVID-19, climate shocks and now the war in Ukraine, have created the perfect storm for an unprecedented global hunger crisis. In communities where people were already facing hunger, this conflict has pushed them to the breaking point, threatening almost 50 million lives in 45 countries.  

Ms Robertson joined the Micah Women Leaders delegation to meet with senior government ministers, key opposition figures, cross bench MPs and minor party representatives in Canberra on Wednesday to make the case for Help Fight Famine, a coalition of Australia's leading aid and development organisations campaigning for Treasurer Jim Chalmers to spend $150 million on the hunger crisis.

“On a recent trip to Ethiopia I met communities already on the brink of starvation, with almost no options left to feed themselves and their families. I met women who walk over 18 hours to get water, knowing that they have very little or even nothing to feed their children once they return,” said Ms Robertson.  

“These horrifying conditions are some of the worst I have seen in over 20 years in this sector. Indeed, this impending hunger crisis is shaping up to be the worst we have seen in our lifetime. The time to act is now.”  

The Help Fight Famine campaign calls for the Albanese Government to deliver an urgent $150 million Famine Prevention Package to stop a catastrophe in the worst-affected hunger hotspots in the Horn of Africa, Afghanistan, Syria and Yemen. Help Fight Famine also calls out the need to invest in a long-term, targeted Global Food Security Strategy, and include measures to strengthen resilience of the Asia Pacific region to climate change, disasters, and economic shocks.  

Ms Robertson is joined by Caritas Australia Diocesan Director for Adelaide, Tracey Tessitore, and Caritas Australia Diocesan Coordinator for Sandhurst, Kerry Stone.  

Supporters can email their local MP and ask them to Help Fight Famine at https://www.caritas.org.au/act/help-fight-famine/ 

Media contact: Jessica Stone 0490 684 867 /  jessica.stone@caritas.org.au    

Note: Kirsty Robertson, Caritas Australia’s CEO is available for interview.