UN: Children at Ethiopia Camp Dying at 'Alarming' Rate

UN: Children at Ethiopia Camp Dying at 'Alarming' Rate

Source: VOA

The U.N. refugee agency says children at an Ethiopian camp for Somali refugees are dying at an "alarming" rate.

The agency reports that an average of 10 children under the age of five are dying each day at the Kobe refugee camp in eastern Ethiopia. It says malnutrition is the major cause of death but that a suspected measles outbreak is compounding the problems.

The camp in the Dollo Ado area opened in June for the thousands of Somalis fleeing drought, famine and fighting in their country.

The U.N. has declared a famine in five regions of southern Somalia and predicts it will spread throughout the entire south by the end of next month.

Meanwhile, Muslim nations have pledged $350 million to help Somalia deal with the crisis.

The 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation had hoped to collect $500 million in pledges during a meeting Wednesday in Istanbul.

The United Nations says more than 12 million people in the Horn of Africa are in urgent need of food aid. 

The region is experiencing the worst drought in six decades.

In Somalia, where the situation is the most dire, the U.N. says as many as 3.2 million people are estimated to be on the brink of starvation.

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