UN Appeals for Urgent Aid to Draught-hit E.Africa

"Nowhere else on earth is so much at stake as in Africa. It is here where most lives are at stake," UN humanitarian chief Jan Egeland told reporters, launching the 426-million-dollar (348-million-euro) appeal, Reuters reported.

Since late 2005, east Africans have been facing hunger and losing livestock, due to a drought one aid agency, Oxfam, said on Friday will take 15 years to recover from.

The drought has hit Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia hardest, but also Djibouti, Eritrea, Burundi, Uganda and Tanzania.

Of the $426 million sought, Egeland said the bulk -- $327 million -- was for Somalia, a Horn of Africa country overrun by warlords for the last 15 years.

"If we fail to invest in Somalia today, there will be more conflict. Because if it's one thing that Somalia's full of, it's small arms," Egeland said.

"Angry, hungry men with Kalashnikovs in search of food somewhere will lead to more conflict and a collapse of the whole project of establishing a viable state."

Friday's appeal includes emergency relief and funding for 100 long-term projects sponsored by the United Nations and relief organizations.

Children Dying

Egeland said the drought is killing children in "very high numbers."

"Malnourished children die now in very high numbers, it's certainly in the thousands, probably in tens of thousands across the Horn of Africa," he added, responding to a question about how many lives had been lost due to the drought.

"People are not dying yet in large numbers because of hunger itself, they're dying however because of associated disease and malnutrition," he noted.

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