Unicef: 300 000 kids risk death in E Africa
2011-08-20 12:33
New York - More than 300 000 children in the Horn of Africa are severely malnourished "and in imminent risk of dying" because of drought and famine, the head of the UN children's agency said Friday.
The United Nations says tens of thousands of people already have died in Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti and has warned that the famine hasn't peaked. More than 12 million people in the region need food aid, according to the UN.
"The crisis in the Horn of Africa is a human disaster becoming a human catastrophe," Unicef Executive Director Anthony Lake told reporters.
In Somalia alone, he said, 1.4 million children are affected, an estimated 390,000 are suffering from malnutrition, and nearly 140 000 in the south-central region are facing imminent death from "severe acute malnutrition".
Somalia, which has been engulfed in conflict for nearly two decades, has been hardest-hit with famine in five regions. The southern and central parts of the country, which are mainly under control of al-Shabab extremists, have been worst affected because of the Islamic group's refusal to allow key humanitarian organisations to deliver aid. Among the groups that have been blocked is the UN World Food Programme, the world's major aid provider.
While Unicef, the Red Crescent and other organisations are working in the south-central region, providing food and water and operating nutrition centres, Lake predicted "the crisis will get worse".
"Let me warn that by the next rainfalls in October, we project that all of central and south Somalia will suffer the same extreme food and nutrition crises as is the case in the worst areas there today, with twice as many children - almost 300 000 - in imminent peril," he said.
Donors have contributed over $1bn to help famine victims, but UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appealed again on Friday - World Humanitarian Day - for $1bn more.
"Humanitarians are on the ground saving lives," he said. "But we are still not reaching all the people who need our help, and the crisis has still not peaked."
Lake said children are the most vulnerable and suffer most in disasters like the current drought and famine.
"In many ways this is a children's crisis and their plight demands our most urgent, bold and sustained response," he said. He added: "We are in a fight against time."
- AP
