Unicef on Friday launched an appeal for $1.28 billion (947 million euros) this year, with a third of the cash needed to help children in the drought-stricken Horn of Africa, the agency said. The UN children's fund said it was seeking nine percent less than in 2011, linked to lower needs in Pakistan and Haiti, but that its needs for fighting hunger had jumped by nearly 50 percent.
The East Africa and Southern Africa regions show the largest increase in funding needs, mainly due to the humanitarian crisis in the Horn of Africa. In 2012 Unicef expects to help about 97 million people in 25 countries and territories, it said. "The list of countries includes many long standing or so-called 'silent' emergencies, but the crisis in Somalia and in other countries in the Horn of Africa accounts for nearly one-third of the total amount," a Unicef report said.
The Horn of Africa countries are Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia. The second highest funding priority is the Democratic Republic of Congo, representing 11 percent of the total, while the amount sought for Sudan makes up eight percent, with Pakistan at seven percent. Unicef spokesman Patrick McCormick attributed the increase to "the situation in Somalia and the Sahel," a zone that stretches across Africa with the Sahara Desert to its north.
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