East Africa is in a state of crisis. A famine has been declared in areas of Somalia. Over two million children are malnourished and in need of immediate, life-saving help.
It is incredibly important that as many people as possible know about this, and also know how to help. We need your support in helping us share this message - here are some digital resources to help you do this.
Banners
Upload a banner like this image above to your website or blog. We have four sizes available to download for free:
Medium Rectangle: 300 x 250 px
Leaderboard: 728 x 90 px
Full Banner: 468 x 60 px
Skyscraper: 120 x 600 px
Please link to our appeal page at https://www.unicef.ie/Content.aspx?pid=75&emId=29
Twitter and Facebook
Retweet updates from our Twitter stream, or share our Facebook updates.
Facebook: www.facebook.com/UNICEF.Ireland
Twitter: www.twitter.com/unicef.ireland
On Twitter, wer'e using the hashtags #childrensfamine, #famine, #eastafrica and #timetoshare
Latest Photos and Videos
Photos: View UNICEF's latest hi-res pictures from Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia at our Flickr account. Photos are free of charge for you to use, but in return, please include the copyright information provided with each picture.
Video: Watch our latest videos from the field at YouTube and pick up the embed codes to add them to your website. Link to our East Africa appeal video with Ewan McGregor
News, Blogs, Press Releases
News: Rolling news from UNICEF Ireland at our news page.
Blogs: For more in-depth stories and case studies, visit the UNICEF Blog.
Maps: Download maps of East Africa and Somalia, and this very detailed statistics map from the UN.
Key Issues
- Famine has been declared in five areas of Southern Somalia. This is a children’s famine. Right now, more than 250 children are dying every day in – one child every 6 minutes. We need to bring this to the world’s attention before it is too late
- Over 2 million children in East Africa are acutely malnourished, with more than half a million children at risk of imminent death without urgent assistance. These children are living on the brink and their situation becomes more critical every day.
- With the right therapeutic feeding, a child can recover in 6 weeks. We can save lives if we act now.
- This is more than a food crisis. It is a crisis for child survival. In addition to lack of food and water, malnourished children are susceptible to killer diseases, such as measles, malaria, diarrhoea and pneumonia.
- This crisis is set to deepen over the next 6 months, with the whole of southern Somalia likely to fall into famine unless there is a massive increase in the humanitarian response.
- UNICEF is the largest supplier of life-saving therapeutic food in Somalia. We have been working for children in Somalia for over 30 years.
- UNICEF works with local Somali administrations where they exist, Somali communities, local and international NGOs and other UN agencies to help deliver services to Somali children and women.
- Children in Somalia have suffered a triple shock. The causes of the famine are one of the worst droughts in nearly half a century, continuing armed conflict that has disrupted normal life and commerce, and the doubling of food prices. UNICEF and other UN agencies have been warning about this pending crisis since last year, but the slow onset of this emergency has made it hard to get the attention and response needed.
- UNICEF urgently needs more than £190 million (US$314 million) to expand rapidly our efforts to save children’s lives across East Africa.
Thank you
Related News Items
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Friday, October 21, 2011
The massive international response to the child survival crisis in the Horn of Africa has already shown some positive results, but much more needs to be done to save hundreds of thousands of children at risk of dying from malnutrition and disease, UNICEF said today according to a progress report three months after famine was declared in parts of Somalia.
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Monday, October 17, 2011
An estimated two and a half million people in Somalia, already suffering from drought, famine and conflict, are at risk of contracting malaria with the start of the rainy season.