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After the failure of four rainy seasons over two years, at least 36 million people across the Horn of Africa are suffering a prolonged drought, with 21 million highly food insecure.
About two million children across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia require urgent treatment for acute malnutrition. The drought has killed vast swathes of crops, pasture and livestock and dried up water sources, leading to more than 1.7 million people fleeing their homes. More than nine million livestock have died, and 15 million children are out of school.
The number of people without reliable access to safe water has risen to 16.2 million, leading to outbreaks of cholera and diarrhea. With a fifth rainy season already failing, livelihoods have been stretched to the point of no return.
It’s a disaster like nothing we have seen in the past 40 years.
Yet the world’s attention is elsewhere. The ongoing conflict in Ukraine has pushed the Horn of Africa drought off headlines and away from donors’ attention, while increasing food prices and reducing availability of grain imports. Lives are being lost as a result.
