UNICEF declares famine in Somalia, places Nigeria, 3 other countries on alert

The United Nations Children’s Fund says some 1.4 million children are at “imminent risk” of dying from severe acute malnutrition this year as famine looms across Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen.
“Time is running out for more than a million children,” said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake.
“We can still save many lives. The severe malnutrition and looming famine are largely man-made. Our common humanity demands faster action. We must not repeat the tragedy of the 2011 famine in the Horn of Africa.”
The warning came after an official declaration of famine in South Sudan.
In the northeast of Nigeria, up to 450,000 in conflict-affected states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe could face severe acute malnutrition.
This year, UNICEF is working with partners to provide therapeutic treatment to 220,000 severely malnourished children in Nigeria, over 200,000 severely malnourished children in South Sudan, more than 200,000 severely malnourished children in Somalia, and 320,000 children in Yemen.
Drought in Somalia threatens an already fragile population battered by decades of conflict.
Some 6.2 million people, nearly half the entire population, face acute food insecurity and are in need of humanitarian assistance, said UNICEF in a statement Tuesday.
At least 185,000 children are expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition this year, however this figure is expected to rise to 270,000 in the next few months.
In South Sudan, a country reeling from conflict, poverty and insecurity, over 270,000 children are severely malnourished.
Famine has just recently been declared in parts of Unity State in the northern central part of the country, where 20,000 children live.
The total number of food insecure people across the country is expected to rise from 4.9 million to 5.5 million at the height of the lean season in July if nothing is done to curb the severity and spread of the food crisis.
And in Yemen, where a conflict has been raging for the past two years, 462,000 children are currently suffering from severe acute malnutrition – a nearly 200% increase since 2014.