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Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
More information about Action Against Hunger (ACF) can be found at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_Against_Hunger which highlights the strong record of ACF in treating malnutrition. Action Against Hunger is a global humanitarian organisation which works to save lives, by treating undernourishment, preventing hunger, supplying clean water and its advocacy work.
The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation warned in its 2019 report on Food Security and Nutrition that the prevalence of global hunger ceased to decline in 2015- since this time the number of hungry people has increased to approximately 820 million. In 2018 Action Against Hunger's global network provided crucial assistance to more than 21 million people in nearly 50 countries.
In terms of emergency response, Action Against Hunger (ACF) provides urgent assistance to civilians and refugees affected by conflicts, for example Yemen and Syria and for the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. ACF is also present in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where the charity notes that over 2 million cases of severe malnutrition have been reported. In the DRC, Action Against Hunger have treated malnourished children, distributed emergency food, provided psycho-social support and enabled access to clean water and sanitation. In the region of South Kivu, ACF supported the anti-cholera strategy. In CAR, one of the poorest countries in the world, Action Against Hunger, has scaled up emergency nutritional, water and sanitation programmes, despite the high level of danger for aid workers. Action Against Hunger UK is now a member of the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) and has institutional partnerships with UNICEF, the World Food Programme and DfID.
Under its slogan 'Hungry for Peace', ACF has highlighted the relationship between conflict and malnutrition, with the UN attributing the rise in undernourishment in recent years to insecurity and conflict. In particular ACF campaigned for UN Security Council Resolution 2417 in 2018 which condemned starvation as a weapon of war and the obstruction of humanitarian aid to civilian populations.
My Three Peaks trek is also motivated by the objective of highlighting the climate emergency. Leading climate scientists warned in 2018 that even if states meet the national policy pledges which resulted from the Paris agreement, then warming of 3 degrees centigrade is likely by 2100. This would have catastrophic implications, and it would be well beyond the danger zone for feedback loop tipping points. A similarly bleak assessment on current policy ambitions has been reached by international energy experts.
National Geographic have reported that glaciers in the Garhwal Himalaya in India are retreating so fast that researchers believe that most central and eastern Himalayan glaciers could virtually disappear by 2035. Millions of people in Asia rely on the glaciers for water. In the first decade of the 21st century there were 3,496 natural disasters from floods, storms, droughts and heat waves. This is a little under five times the 743 such disasters which were reported in the 1970s. Climatologists have confirmed that global warming is a major causal factor in this increase.
The IPCC Special Report concerning 1.5 degrees global warming estimated that limiting global warming to 1.5°C .would “substantially reduce the probability of extreme drought, precipitation deficits, and risks associated with water availability (i.e., water stress) in some
regions.” Analysts of the relationship between conflict and climate change have found that when "rainfall is significantly below normal, the risk of a low-level conflict escalating to a full-scale civil war approximately doubles the following year."
ACF, France noted in August 2019 that industrial farming and land use is a key contributor to climate change. ACF advocates agro-ecology as a means of reducing emissions and absorbing more carbon whilst protecting farmers' economic security. The charity also helps communities to prepare for emergencies such as floods and droughts, for example in Kenya, where support included drought early warning systems and data analysis. ACF has also strengthened local capacity in Kenya to implement lifesaving nutritional interventions, for example through community health outreach.
The charity walk is an estimated 24 miles, encompassing the summits of Pen-y-Ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough. I hope to complete the challenge towards the end of September or early October within a timeframe of 12 hours. I cannot guarantee I will succeed in the 12 hour challenge. I will provide updates on my attempts, but you can of course make a donation either before or after the trek has taken place.
Action Against Hunger (ACF) UK are registered with JustGiving and recommended that I use the site. There is a 1.9% fee plus 20p on donations by card through the page and a request for an optional contribution. Further information about the service provided in return is here https://www.justgiving.com/info/fees. If you wish to consider alternative payment methods, please let me know and I will assist further information. My email address is robertelliott82@hotmail.co.uk.
Ribblehead has strong historical connections to the rail industry. There is also a historical connection to meteorology as the Station Master at Ribblehead was responsible for submitting weather reports to the Air Ministry from the 1930s to the 1960s. The Ribblehead Viaduct was opened in 1876 by the Midland Railway Company, which also built St Pancras Station as part of their plans to run a service from London to Glasgow. The use of existing lines was precluded and so the route from Leeds to Settle over the Pennines to Carlisle and beyond was constructed. The viaduct was saved by a decision of Parliament in 1989 after the route to Carlisle was threatened with closure.
The higher slopes of the Peaks are comprised of alternating layers- of limestone, mudstone and ultimately sandstone- known as cyclotherms with Millstone Grit capping the summits. Whernside is Yorkshire's highest peak. A sizeable system of caves is incorporated within Ingleborough's limestone strata and England's highest waterfall will be nearby at Gaping Gill, where the beck drops vertically through the earth, into Britain's second biggest cavern. The beck emerges again near to Ingleborough Cave.