The United Nations refugee agency has begun flying aid into the capital of famine-stricken Somalia for the first time in five years. In the last 90 days, 9,000 children under the age of five have died in Southern Somalia alone. On Monday, USAID administrator Raj Shah warned hundreds of thousands of Somali children could die in the famine unless more help arrives. In Washington, President Obama approved $105 million in relief aid for the Horn of Africa region — but that is just a fraction of what the United States spends on the military in the region. The United Nations fears rising malnutrition rates will lead to more deaths. Rozanne Chorlton is the Somalia country representative for UNICEF.

Rozanne Chorlton, UNICEF, Somalia Country Representative: “We are seeing now that the proportion of malnourished children who are severely malnourished is already at 50 percent. This is an extremely, extremely worrying proportion, because normally that would be around five or 10 percent, so it means that 50 percent of malnourished children are at nine times greater risk of death than children who are healthy.”