SW News: On May 22, UNICEF issued an alert showing that more than 1.9 million children under the age of five in the Horn of Africa are at risk of death due to acute malnutrition and that more than 7 million children under the age of five are severely malnourished and need immediate nutrition assistance.

According to Mohamed Fall, UNICEF's regional director for Eastern and Southern Africa, millions of children and families in the Horn of Africa have fled their homes in search of food and water during the last three years.

Furthermore, owing to the dry ground's inability to absorb huge amounts of water, the rains have caused floods, resulting in extra relocations, increased disease risks, livestock deaths, and agricultural losses. According to preliminary estimates, the flash and riverine floods in Somalia displaced 219,000 people, mostly in flood-prone regions, and killed 22 people.

Due to a lack of rain during the previous three years, the area has lost cattle, crops, and even people's way of life. This is the worst drought in this region in the previous 40 years.

In all, 23 million people in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia face hunger. When compared to the same time last year, the number of critically malnourished youngsters seeking medical treatment increased in the first quarter of this year. As a consequence of the present climatic disaster, political turmoil, and food shortages, women and children are more exposed to GBV, sexual exploitation and abuse, and hunger.

Extreme weather and weakened healthcare infrastructure are worsening regional outbreaks of cholera, measles, and malaria. Local food prices inflict a strain on families and children as climate change exacerbates widespread migration, famine, and sickness.

"This year, more flexible financing will go toward developing more resilient, sustainable systems for children in the area that can withstand future climate impacts and other disturbances," the regional director concluded. He said that because of the region's "severe weather cycles," the next tragedy might hit before children and families have fully healed.