More than 20 million children are at risk of severe hunger, disease and thirst because of the drought affecting the Horn of Africa, the worst in «more than two generations,» the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has warned.
UNICEF said the number of children suffering from severe drought conditions in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia has doubled in five months to 20.2 million from 10 million in July, a situation exacerbated by climate change, conflict, inflation and grain shortages.
«While collective and accelerated efforts have mitigated some of the worst impact that was feared, children in the Horn of Africa are facing the most severe drought in more than two generations,» explained the agency’s deputy director for eastern and southern Africa, Lieke van de Wiel.
«Humanitarian assistance must be sustained to save lives and build the resilience of the incredible number of children and families who are being pushed to the brink, dying of hunger and disease, displaced in search of food, water and pasture for their livestock,» she explained.
Thus, UNICEF has indicated that nearly two million children in these three countries require urgent treatment because of acute malnutrition, the deadliest form of hunger, while more than two million people are displaced in the Horn of Africa because of drought.
In this context, water insecurity has doubled to 24 million people suffering from severe water shortages, while 2.7 million children are out of school due to drought, while nearly four million children are at risk of dropping out of school due to the crisis.
The situation also means increased risks of child labor, child marriage and female genital mutilation/cutting, while gender-based violence, including sexual violence, exploitation and abuse due to food insecurity and displacement, is on the rise.
«As governments and populations around the world prepare for the New Year, we call on the international community to commit to responding now to what may hit the Horn of Africa next year and beyond,» Van de Wiel stressed.
«We need a global effort to urgently mobilize resources to reduce further devastating and irreversible damage to children in the Horn of Africa. We must act now to save children’s lives, preserve their dignity and protect their futures,» he reiterated.
UNICEF has launched an emergency appeal for $759 million (about 716 million euros) for 2023 to provide assistance to children and their families, especially in the areas of education, water and sanitation, as well as child protection, while recalling that these programs suffered funding shortfalls in 2022.
Moreover, $690 million (around 651 million euros) is needed to support long-term investments to help children and their families recover and adapt to climate change.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), carried out by UN agencies and non-governmental organizations, indicated in mid-December that Somalia had avoided falling into famine by the end of this year, after numerous warnings about the risk of famine by the end of 2022.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
