The number of children facing severe drought across the Horn of Africa has increased by more than 40 per cent within two months, the UN children’s agency UNICEF said.

UNICEF said on Monday that between February and April, the number of children facing the impact of drought – including acute hunger, malnutrition, and thirst – increased from 7.25 million to at least 10 million.

The UN agency revised its emergency appeal from 119 million dollars to nearly 250 million dollars to reflect the growing need across the region.

According to UNICEF, more than 1.7 million children across Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia require urgent treatment for severe acute malnutrition.

It warned that if rains fell in the coming weeks, the number of children that would require urgent treatment for severe acute malnutrition in the three countries would rise to two million.

“If we don’t act now we will see an avalanche of child deaths in a matter of weeks. Famine is just around the corner,” said Mohamed Fall, UNICEF’s regional director for eastern and southern Africa.

The drought is considered the worst in 40 years.

Hundreds of thousands of people were driven from their homes by the drought that began three years ago.

UNICEF warns that they are extremely dependent on humanitarian aid. 

(dpa/NAN)