UN Agencies call for urgent action to address Somalia drought

Two agencies, UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Program (WFP) have asked the world to act now to save lives in Somalia where a devastating drought is affecting more than six million people, or nearly half the population.

They say the drought is threatening Somalia's fragile population, already battered by decades of conflict.

People are living "hand-to-mouth" and whole villages have lost their crops or seen their livestock die.

Photo: UNICEF/Sebastian Rich: A pastoralist in northern Somalia, a region hit hard by drought. He lost almost half of his sheep flock that originally numbered 70.