After five consecutive below-average rains, the humanitarian crisis in the Horn of Africa is expanding and deepening. According to the World Food Program, by the end of December 2022, the drought had left 23 million people severely food insecure across the region. And it has become clear that the currently expected rainy season is already failing.
This is the region’s worst drought in more than four decades.
Children are among the worst affected in disasters. Extreme thirst drives young children to drink any dirty, contaminated water, and they can die quickly from the resulting diarrhea.