Top U.N. officials are pleading for more international aid to address the famine in the Horn of Africa. Speaking to the Security Council, the U.N. envoy to Somalia, Augustine Mahiga, called on donors to boost funding.

Augustine Mahiga: “I strongly urge you, members of the Council, to appeal to your own governments and to the international community to generously support the humanitarian relief operation currently underway in Somalia. We need approximately, U.S. dollars, $1 billion for Somalia, channeled through our consolidated appeal process to avert a further worsening of this emergency. So far, we have received less than 50 percent of this sum.”

Catherine Bragg, the U.N. Assistant Secretary-General for Emergency Relief Operations, said children continue to be those most at risk.

Catherine Bragg: “Children are the most affected by the crisis, and an estimated 1.25 million children across southern Somalia are in urgent need of life-saving assistance. Tens of thousands of children have already died, and many more will die in the coming days unless aid is provided to them.”