About three million children at risk in Africa : U.N.

New York, Sept 6 (PTI) - Almost three million children
across the Horn of Africa are at risk of death, disease and
malnutrition due to a combination of drought, rising food
prices and conflict, U.N.I.C.E.F. said Saturday.

The children are among the more than 14 million people in
Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea, Kenya, Uganda and Djibouti that
are critically affected, and the numbers are on an "alarming
upward trajectory," U.N.I.C.E.F. said.

The agency said some experts are predicting that million
more children and families could be affected across the Horn
of Africa if steps are not taken immediately.

Strong national leadership is needed at this critical
juncture, and more international funding must be quickly
mobilised," U.N.I.C.E.F.'s regional director for East and
Southern Africa, Per Engebak, said in a statement.

"The risks to children and their families are immense and
we are running out of time to reverse them."

Relief efforts in the troubled region have been hampered
by weak governance as well as attacks on aid workers by armed
groups.

"Security is a major complication in responding to the
needs of affected people in many parts of the Horn at this
time," said Engebak.

He also underscored the difficulties of lack of access,
along with the soaring cost of food grains and cereals
worldwide. Food prices have risen by as much as 200 per cent
over the past eight months in some of the worst
drought-affected countries, making it nearly impossible
for many families to purchase much-need items.

"If concerted actions and funding are not forthcoming
this crisis could have irreversible effects on the people of
the Horn and push any prospect of progress towards the M.D.G.s
(Millennium Development Goals) far beyond reach of their
countries," Engebak said.

The number of those requiring assistance in Ethiopia is
expected to rise from the current 4.6 million, according to
U.N.I.C.E.F., adding that there are now 75,000 children there
in need of therapeutic feeding.

John Holmes who recently visited Ethiopia, the U.N.'s top
relief official, told reporters that "the crisis remains very
severe, and the numbers of people affected are continuing to
rise."

A USD 325 million humanitarian appeal launched for
Ethiopia in June has been "reasonably well funded, over 60
percent," he said.

However, noting that the needs are "extremely large," he
made an urgent appeal to donors to contribute more for the
next few months to help alleviate the situation.

Meanwhile, the number of people needing emergency aid in
Somalia has spiralled upwards by 77 percent since January,
and now totals 3.2 million.

U.N.I.C.E.F. plans to carry out a child health campaign
in the country in October, aiming to reach 1.5 million
children under the age of five with measles vaccinations,
vitamin A supplements and other health measures.

Spikes in acute malnutrition are being seen among
children in parts of Eritrea, the agency said. In addition,
7,500 children in Uganda's Karamoja region are severely
malnourished, while over 700,000 people there are estimated to
lack sufficient food, the United Nations said.

In Kenya, U.N.I.C.E.F. said an estimated 1.3 million are
affected by food insecurity, about 840,000 of those in the
arid and semi-arid pastoralist areas and the others displaced
during the violent political crisis early in the year. PTI DS