Relief efforts continue in the Horn of Africa amidst a famine threatening the lives of millions of people. UNICEF Emergency Programs Deputy Director Dermot Carty said immediate intervention is needed to avoid an escalation in deaths.

Dermot Carty: “We have been warning for many years that the situation is especially fragile there. Take the weather conditions, multiply that by the ongoing conflict, add in the problems associated with rising food prices because of food shortages, you have a very bad situation. I think we need to continually focus on what the issue is, and the issue is that children are dying and will continue to die, unless we make sufficient interventions in the immediately short term through the delivery of humanitarian assistance.”