In the past few decades, Somalia’s droughts have increased both in intensity and in number due to climate change. It is now facing a famine that threatens the lives of millions of people, especially children. The United Nations says there are staggering levels of malnutrition among children under the age of five. T

Hundreds of mothers and their children are destitute as a severe drought continues to threaten death on a scale not seen in half a century, a spokesperson for UNICEF said on Tuesday.

Burkina Faso's leader vows a crackdown on armed extremists. The UN warns that Somalia is on the brink of famine. And a skateboarding crew in Ethiopia's capital brings together young girls from all backgrounds.

The Pope raised the plight of Somalians struggling to cope with drought in his Sunday address at the Vatican. The pontiff appealed to the international community to help Somalia as the country is in the grip of a hunger crisis.

More than seven million people are in need or urgent humanitarian assistance in Somalia, the Food and Agriculture Organization has said, as the U.N. agency warned that parts of the country could experience famine next month.

Millions of people in Somalia are on the brink of starvation. We speak to Rein Paulsen from the FAO, who is in Somalia meeting with drought-affected communities. Meanwhile, campaigning for Kenya's presidential elections picked up again on Wednesday after a deeply underwhelming presidential debate. And Senegal heads to the polls on Sunday for legislative elections in which 165 seats are up for grabs.

Is tying humanitarian assistance to human rights the right course for Afghanistan? Aid agencies are this week imploring the West and in particular the US Treasury to allow money transfers to flow unhindered and to unblock desperately needed funds.

Food security is deteriorating quickly, with more than half the population of Afghanistan – a record 22.8 million people - facing acute food insecurity, among which 8.7 million are teetering on the brink of famine. WFP reached more than 15 million people with assistance in 2021, compared to 9 million in 2020.

COVID and conflicts have pushed the number of people facing food insecurity to 45 million, with Afghanistan fast becoming the "world's largest humanitarian crisis."

While countries from all over the world gather for COP26, "climate change famine" shows no sign of abating in southern Madagascar, where crippling droughts have left families starving, paying what the United Nations describes as the "highest price" of malnutrition induced from climate change. Africa, responsible for just 3% of global emissions, is seen as the most vulnerable region to climate change, as evidenced by Madagascar's droughts this year . African leaders demanded at the Glasgow conference that wealthy countries responsible for the bulk of carbon emissions make good on an earlier pledge to provide $100 billion a year to help poorer countries cope. Climate change is battering the Indian Ocean island and several U.N. agencies have warned in the past few months of a "climate change famine" there. Rainfall patterns in Madagascar are growing more erratic – they've been below average for nearly six years, said researchers at the University of California at Santa Barbara.

Famine is devastating the south of Madagascar, the first country in the world to experience such conditions due to climate change, according to the UN. The current situation -- brought on by years of persistent drought -- prompted World Food Programme executive director David Beasley, who recently visited the country, to say it was akin to "something you see in a horror movie."

The coronavirus pandemic, climate crisis and conflicts have pushed more than half a million people to the brink of starvation, Oxfam reported. Cutting new military spending by less than 20% would end global hunger.