United Nations Radio

An alliance of United Nations aid agencies and NGO's has called for urgent action and policies to avert grave humanitarian suffering in the Horn of Africa.

The alliance says a lethal mix of drought, expanding conflict, rising food and energy prices, disease, and high poverty is pushing children and their families in the Greater Horn of Africa to the brink of disaster.

A statement from the agencies says Ethiopia and Somalia are the worst-affected, but parts of Eritrea, Djibouti, Kenya and Uganda show ominously similar signs. According to the statement, malnutrition is compounding the risks to survival that children routinely face, including pneumonia, diarrhoeal diseases and infections.

The agencies suggest that to stop and reverse these trends leading to another major humanitarian disaster, the international community and donors will need to fully support the responses of governments in the region to stabilize the situation and enable timely and effective responses.

UNICEF's Regional Director for East and Southern Africa Per Engebak says "the time to act is now," stressing that "by taking these critical actions, governments and their international partners can make a huge difference in the coming months."

This is Donn Bobb reporting for United Nations Radio.

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