The United Nations is warning up to 1.5 million children under the age of five are on the brink of starvation in the drought-stricken Sahel region of West Africa. In an appeal for urgent aid, Dr. Margaret Chan of the World Health Organization said time is running out to avert a massive toll.

Dr. Margaret Chan: “We are talking about one to 1.5 million children under five whose life is hanging in the balance. But there is a window of opportunity. We need to ask ourselves, can we turn this peril into an opportunity? And the window of that opportunity is closing by the day.”