According to UN report, countries like Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia in (East Africa) have more than 10million people at the risk of severe food and water shortage.
The UN has declares famine in two regions of southern Bakool and Lower Shabelle in Somalia.
Famine is declared when acute malnutrition rates among children exceed 30 per cent, more than two people per every 10,000 die per day, and people are not able to access food and other basic necessities, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
In the last few months, tens of thousands of Somalis have died as a result of causes related to malnutrition, the majority of them children.
Ongoing conflict has made it extremely difficult for international agencies to operate and access communities.
Mr. Bowden of UN humanitarian agencies warned that without immediate action, the famine will spread to all eight regions of southern Somalia within two months, due to poor harvests and infectious disease outbreaks.
Malnutrition kills, but most of the time it kills only the vulnerable, and most notably, young children.
On its own, malnutrition is rarely the cause of death, but it makes children vulnerable to diseases such as malaria, measles, diarrhea, or chest infections. Disease and malnutrition then interact in a vicious cycle such that as children get sick, they are less able to absorb essential nutrients, and therefore get weaker and more susceptible to the illness.
UN agencies have asked for $1.6 billion to pay for essential programmes in the Horn of Africa, but have only received half that amount. Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia and Djibouti are all facing a crisis that is being called the worst in 50 years, leaving an estimated 11 million people in need of humanitarian assistance.
To help a child from dying today visit: World Food Programme
