Between 11 to13 million people are starving and are fleeing southern Somalia for camps in Kenya. Experts are calling it the worst drought in 60 years. More than two million children (under the age of five) in Somalia as well as in parts of Kenya and Ethiopia are acutely malnourished, including almost 500,000 children in an immediate life-threatening state. In addition, children are more vulnerable to the spread of killer diseases, especially to outbreaks of measles, diarrhea, and pneumonia.
In response to this tragic situation, UNICEF and the World Food Programme (WFP) and CARE have officially released urgent appeals for assistance. And, UPS, committed to leverage its global logistics network to help speed emergency supplies to the region. This week, UPS flew a special 767 charter flight from Cologne, Germany, to Nairobi, loaded with approximately 50 metric tons of food to assist World Food Programme famine relief efforts in the Horn of Africa.
