UNICEF - United Nations Children's Fund

Published purpose

August 2011 - The year 2011 is proving to be the driest year since 1951 in many parts of east Africa as a result of an increasingly severe drought. Successive seasons of failed rains, combined with increasing food prices, conflict, and limited humanitarian access, have resulted in food insecurity, water shortages, and acute malnutrition rates well above emergency thresholds. More than 12 million people are now in need of humanitarian assistance in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia. With CIDA support, UNICEF is helping to meet the immediate life-saving needs of more than 500,000 drought-affected households in Somalia. Some specific activities include: therapeutic treatment of acutely malnourished children under five as well as pregnant and lactating women; the provision of safe water and proper sanitation facilities for targeted populations; and disease control through vaccination campaigns.