U.N. agencies are warning of famine in Somalia and a surge of child deaths across the Horn of Africa if their appeals for urgently needed funds to save the lives of hundreds of thousands of hungry, malnourished children remain unmet.

Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from Geneva.

The Horn of Africa is experiencing its fourth consecutive year of failed rains — a climate event not seen in at least 40 years. If the drought persists, the World Food Program warns as many as 20 million people will be suffering from acute hunger by the end of the year. UNICEF reports more than 1.7 million children across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia are in urgent need of treatment for severe acute malnutrition, the deadliest form of the condition. Rania Dagash-Kamara is UNICEF deputy regional director, eastern and southern Africa.

"We have an estimated 386,000 children in Somalia who are in desperate need of treatment for life-threatening severe acute malnutrition."

More than a quarter-million people died in the Somali famine of 2011, half of them children under age five. Dagash-Kamara says children are dying from a combination of malnutrition and killer diseases, such as measles and cholera. She says the drought has killed crops and livestock and dried up water sources. Children are starving and do not have the defenses to fight off the deadly impact of malnutrition and disease. The agencies are appealing for critical support from the G-7, which will meet in Germany later this month. They say the G-7 advanced countries have it within their power to stave off a catastrophe that need not and must not happen. 

Lisa Schlein, for VOA News, Geneva.

1. Horn of Africa 非洲之角，位于非洲东北部，是东非一个半岛。

2. malnourished adj. 营养失调的，营养不良的

3. acute adj. very serious or severe 十分严重的

4. cholera n. 霍乱

5. catastrophe n. a sudden event that causes many people to suffer 灾难

1. U.N. agencies are warning of famine in Somalia and a surge of child deaths across the Horn of Africa.

2. The Horn of Africa is experiencing its fourth consecutive year of failed storms — a climate event not seen in at least 40 years. 

3. If the drought persists, the WHO warns as many as 20 million people will be suffering from acute hunger by the end of the year. 

4. UNICEF reports more than 386,000 children across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia are in urgent need of treatment for severe acute malnutrition.

5. More than a quarter-million people died in the Somali famine of 2011, half of them children under age five. 

6. The agencies are appealing for critical support from the G-7, which will meet in France later this month. 

(T) 1. U.N. agencies are warning of famine in Somalia and a surge of child deaths across the Horn of Africa.

(F) 2. The Horn of Africa is experiencing its fourth consecutive year of failed storms —a climate event not seen in at least 40 years.（正确表达）The Horn of Africa is experiencing its fourth consecutive year of failed rains —a climate event not seen in at least 40 years. 

(F) 3. If the drought persists, the WHO warns as many as 20 million people will be suffering from acute hunger by the end of the year.（正确表达）If the drought persists, the World Food Program warns as many as 20 million people will be suffering from acute hunger by the end of the year. 

(F) 4. UNICEF reports more than 386,000 children across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia are in urgent need of treatment for severe acute malnutrition.（正确表达）UNICEF reports more than 1.7 million children across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia are in urgent need of treatment for severe acute malnutrition.

(T) 5. More than a quarter-million people died in the Somali famine of 2011, half of them children under age five. 

(F) 6. The agencies are appealing for critical support from the G-7, which will meet in France later this month.（正确表达）The agencies are appealing for critical support from the G-7, which will meet in Germany later this month.