La crisis del hambre en Somalia, Kenya y Etiopía

La mayor sequía en la region en mas de sesenta años se suma a luchas tribales y guerras civiles para poner en peligro a mas de 2 millones de personas, entre ellas 1/2 millon de niños. Diversas organizaciones civiles suman a la ayuda humanitaria.

The UN has declared a famine in two areas of Somalia, while parts of Kenya and Ethiopia are also in crisis due to the region's worst drought in half a century.

An appeal by the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) has seen the British public raise £20m - despite a recent poll suggesting Britons are becoming more reluctant to donate to foreign aid.

But how does the DEC, which collects money on behalf of 14 charities, distribute its funds - and how are they being used by aid workers on the ground?

Nick Guttmann, the head of Christian Aid's humanitarian division, describes the challenge he and his team face.

"There's some water - but not much, and the sanitation is poor," he says.

"The more people come, the more difficult it's going to get."

Mr Guttmann helps in the reception centre of the Dadaab refugee camps in Kenya, now overwhelmed by people fleeing from Somalia. It's thought 370,000 people are there, despite its 90,000 capacity.

Christian Aid volunteers register the new arrivals, give them information about their rights, and hand out supplies.

"People will get clothes, plastic sheeting for shelter, sleeping mats, kitchen sets, and they'll also get two weeks' rations... It's a complicated process and we have to make sure people aren't registering more than once," says Mr Guttmann
Christian Aid is one of the agencies that DEC raises money for and the organisation is also helping to distribute water, repair bore-holes and dig water pans - mini-reservoirs - to collect the rains that will hopefully arrive in a few months.

Mr Guttmann says the "fantastic effort" of the British public is helping the charity to continue and intensify its work.

He describes how a local head teacher enthusiastically thanked his team for supplying water to a village, meaning children could return to the school.

"It's obviously difficult and makes me angry when I see people in these situations when they should be having a decent life," he says. "But when you hear that it compensates for the difficulties one sees."