The United Nations has issued an urgent appeal for $300 million within two months to stop the famine in Somalia from getting worse. Tens of thousands of people have already died and nearly half of Somalia’s population — 3.7 million people — are in danger, the vast majority in the south. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appealed for immediate aid.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon: “Humanitarian agencies need urgent funding to save lives. If funding is not made available for humanitarian interventions now, the famine is likely to continue and spread. The overall requirement is $1.6 billion for Somalia. Roughly 300 million U.S. dollars is needed in the next two months to provide an adequate response to famine-affected areas. Children and adults are dying at an appalling rate. Every day of delay will cost more lives.”

The United Nations says 11.3 million are in need of immediate food assistance, including 500,000 children at risk of death. Speaking from Ethiopia, World Food Programme head Josette Sheeran said the severity of the threat to children makes the relief effort unprecedented.

Josette Sheeran: “This will be our largest-ever emergency operation of supplementary foods to reach children, and we are currently tapping in all possible supplies, not only locally and regionally, but throughout the world, to scale those up, as we see the deepening effects of this drought. It’s very important that we not lose a generation, because for those children who make it who have been denied adequate nutrition, the potential for harm is quite high if they’re denied critical nutrition at this time.”