2011 top story 6 somalia famine

The United Nations estimated that at least 12 million people have been affected by the 2011 drought and famine across Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti. In Somalia the crisis was particularly dire as areas controlled by the militant group Al-Shabaab were not able to receive humanitarian aid, leading to tens of thousands of starvation deaths. In mid-November, the UN's Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit had removed three of Somalia's worst-stricken zones from famine designations. But three other areas, including the capital Mogadishu, remained famine zones, and the UN warned that a quarter of a million people still face imminent starvation. More than $1 billion in international donations will be needed in 2012 to sustain the region. Tens of thousands have died not only from starvation but from continued outbreaks of measles, cholera, and malaria.