UK pledges £52.25m in aid for drought-hit Horn of Africa

The UK is to give £52.25m ($84m) in emergency aid to help millions of drought victims in the Horn of Africa.

Ahead of a visit to Kenya, International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell said the money would be used in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya.

The World Food Programme estimates 10 million people are affected by the worst drought in over half a century.

Mr Mitchell said the situation was "getting worse" and urged the international community to do more.

The Dadaab camps in Kenya are overflowing with tens of thousands of refugees fleeing the parched landscape in the region where Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya meet.

The United Nation's Children's Fund estimates two million young people are malnourished.

The UK's aid package comes after a joint charity appeal by the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) saw over £13m raised in a week.

The Department for International Development (DFID) said the money would help:

Mr Mitchell said: "People across Britain have responded with great generosity to appeals by British NGOs (non-governmental organisations) working in the Horn of Africa.

"But the situation is getting worse - and is particularly devastating in Somalia, where families already have to cope with living in one of the most insecure countries in the world.

"More than 3,000 people every day are fleeing over the borders to Ethiopia and Kenya, many of them arriving with starving children.

"The international community must do more to help not only refugees but also those victims of the drought who remain in Somalia."

In Kenya, Mr Mitchell is to meet the head of the DEC, Brendan Gormley, and Justin Forsyth, chief executive of Save the Children.

He will also meet Somalian refugees.

Mr Forsyth said: "Over the past few days, I've seen first hand the enormous suffering the drought is causing in the Dadaab refugee camp and across northern Kenya.

"Families I've met are absolutely desperate for food and water, and we know that the situation in Somalia is even worse."

Mr Forsyth says there are 400,000 people in the Dadaab camp.

"It is the size of Bristol and this is just the tip of the iceberg, the levels of severe malnutrition in the region are increasing."

He also praised the "unbelievable generosity" of the public for donating to the DEC appeal.

Mr Gormley said: "The need to scale up the response to this disaster is urgent so I am extremely pleased that the secretary of state has announced this further UK government funding today.

"Combined with the extraordinary generosity of the UK public to the DEC East Africa Crisis Appeal, we can truly say that the UK is playing a leading role in responding to this disaster.

"There is still, however, a great deal more to be done before we can say we have safeguarded the lives of the 10 million people at risk."