East Africa is experiencing a major humanitarian crisis due to drought. More than 12 million people need emergency relief. Britain is providing lifesaving aid for over three million people across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia and the UK is now calling on more countries to follow its lead and step up their help for the crisis. Across the region, UK aid is delivering…

• Ethiopia: Food aid for 1.36 million people facing starvation, plus shelter, water and medical help for 100,000 people in the Dolo Ado refugee camps
• Somalia: Help for 800,000 people including food rations, treatment for malnourished children and farming supplies to help people grow food
• Kenya: Support for 200,000 people with treatment for malnourished children and mothers. In addition, the UK is helping 130,000 refugees in the Dadaab refugee camp with safe water, food and basic healthcare

As the UN declared that 750,000 people are at risk of starvation in Somalia, Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell called for action to prevent famine in the future. In a written statement to Parliament, he said:

"The UK continues to be at the forefront of the world’s response. Ultimately, we need to stop these crises happening. We cannot avoid droughts, but we can avoid famines. We are already investing in building the resilience of communities to shocks".

"In the long run, investing more effectively in reducing poverty and reinforcing resilience is not only better value for money than emergency relief, but will help those affected to break out of the cycle of disaster".