Famine grips Somalia

Women from southern Somalia sit in a line to receive aid at a refugee camp in Mogadishu, Somalia, July 20, 2011. Two areas of southern Somalia are suffering from famine, the United Nations declared Wednesday, and tens of thousands of Somalis have already died in the worst hunger emergency in a half a century. The Horn of Africa is suffering a devastating drought compounded by war, neglect and spiraling prices. Some areas in the region have not had such a low rainfall in 60 years, aid group Oxfam said.

Women from southern Somalia walk after receiving rations at a displaced camp in Mogadishu, July 20, 2011.

A refugee child stands on the outskirts of the Dagahaley refugee camp which makes up part of the giant Dadaab refugee settlement on July 20, 2011, in Dadaab, Kenya. The camp at the Kenyan border with Somalia, was designed in the early 1990s to accommodate 90,000 people, but the United Nations estimates more than four times as many currently reside there.

Refugees make their way through the Ifo refugee camp which makes up part of the giant Dadaab refugee settlement on July 20, 2011, in Dadaab, Kenya.

Somali refugees who recently crossed from Somalia into southern Ethiopia cluster between two food tents as they wait to be called to collect rations at the Kobe refugee camp on July 19, 2011. Ethiopian authorities and non-governmental organizations have accommodated almost 25,000 refugees at the camp since it was set up less then three weeks ago. Thousands of Somalis have fled in recent months to neighboring Ethiopia and Kenya in search of food and water, with many dying along the way, as the region suffers what the UN has described as the worst drought in decades.

An arial photo taken on July 19, 2011, shows the Dolo Ado refugee camp, near the border of Somalia, in southern Ethiopia.

A displaced Somali woman cries after one of her children died of malnutrition at a camp near Mogadishu, Somalia, on July 18, 2011.

Somalis fleeing hunger in their famine-stricken nation walk along the main road leading from the Somalian border to the refugee camps around Dadaab, Kenya, July 13, 2011.

A group of Somali women fleeing hunger in their famine-stricken nation walk along the main road leading from the Somalian border to the refugee camps around Dadaab, Kenya, July 13, 2011.

Somali children ride on top of baggage in a donkey-drawn cart as their family heads from the Somali border for the refugee camps around Dadaab, Kenya, July 13, 2011.

Somalis fleeing hunger in their famine-stricken nation walk along the main road leading from the Somalian border to the refugee camps around Dadaab, Kenya, July 13, 2011.

Somali refugee and goat herder Adan Issick walks past unoccupied refugee housing at Ifo II, a camp expansion trapped in limbo as it awaits final approval by the Kenyan government, outside Dadaab, Kenya, July 12, 2011.

Two severely malnourished children from southern Somalia lie on a table in Banadir hospital, Mogadishu, Somalia, July 12, 2011.

Somali girls hide behind their veils as they wait with their family to receive ration cards in Dagahaley Camp, outside Dadaab, Kenya, July 11, 2011.

A boy from the family of Rage Mohamed is caught in wind-blown dust as his family builds a makeshift shelter around a thorny acacia tree, on the outskirts of Dagahaley Camp, outside Dadaab, Kenya, July 10, 2011. It took the 15-person family five days to make the journey from their drought-stricken home in Somalia. They spent two nights sleeping in the open air under the tree prior to receiving tarps.

A young Somali woman carries food after receiving aid from a Muslim Aid Organization in Mogadishu, Somalia, after fleeing from southern Somalia, July 10, 2011.

A woman from southern Somalia builds a makeshift shelter from tree branches at a new camp in Mogadishu, Somalia, July 13, 2011.

Somalis who fled from southern Somalia hold pots and containers as they wait to receive food at a camp, distributed by a local NGO, in Mogadishu, Somalia, July 13, 2011.

A Somali woman with children from southern Somalia, displaced by drought, sits in an open area in a makeshift shelter in a refugee camp in Mogadishu, Somalia, July 13, 2011.

Somali refugees sit in the yard of their makeshift shelter, fenced in with thorny branches, in Iffou 2, an area earmarked for refugee camp expansion, but yet to be approved by the Kenyan government, outside Dadaab, Kenya, July 11, 2011.

A young Somali boy being treated for malnutrition drinks therapeutic milk at a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Dagahaley Camp, outside Dadaab, Kenya, July 11, 2011. U.N. refugee chief Antonio Guterres said Sunday that drought-ridden Somalia is the "worst humanitarian disaster" in the world, after meeting with refugees who endured unspeakable hardship to reach the world's largest refugee camp in Dadaab, Kenya.

Marwo Maalin feeds her son, one-year-old Habibo Bashir, as part of his treatment for severe malnutrition, at a Doctors Without Borders hospital, in Dagahaley Camp, outside Dadaab, Kenya, July 11, 2011.

A family from southern Somalia, displaced by drought, eat after their first night in open grounds without shelter and basic necessities in Mogadishu, July 10, 2011. Thousands of people have arrived in Mogadishu since the beginning of July seeking assistance for their lack of water and food. With the number increasing by the day, aid agencies are appealing for tens of millions of dollars in emergency funding to fight a drought that has created a triangle of hunger where the borders of Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia meet.

A child from southern Somalia eats a piece of bread inside a destroyed building in Mogadishu, Somalia, July 11,2011.

A child from southern Somalia sleeps in open ground in Mogadishu, July 10, 2011, after fleeing from southern Somalia.

Somali families carrying their belongings arrive in Mogadishu, Somalia, July 11, 2011, after fleeing from southern Somalia.

Somali children play with scraps of material at an informal housing settlement for recently arrived Somali refugees, on the outskirts of Dagahaley Camp, outside Dadaab, Kenya, July 10, 2011.

A family who fled southern Somali makes its way to a shelter in Mogadishu, Somalia, July 10, 2011.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres, center, in white, speaks with Somali women waiting among other newly arrived refugees to be registered at Dagahaley Camp, outside Dadaab, Kenya, July 10, 2011. UNHCR estimates 1300 new refugees fleeing drought and hunger in Somalia are arriving daily in the Dadaab area of northern Kenya.

Somalis who fled southern Somalia wait for food aid from a Muslim Aid Organization, July 10, 2011, in Mogadishu, Somalia.

Refugees newly arrived from Somalia line up to receive food rations at a receiving center in Dagahaley Camp, outside Dadaab, Kenya, July 9, 2011. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates 1300 new refugees fleeing drought and hunger in Somalia are arriving daily in the Dadaab area.

Women and children from southern Somalia, wait outside a ruined building before making their way to the internally displaced camps in Mogadishu, Somalia, after fleeing from southern Somalia, July 8, 2011.

Somalis who fled from southern Somalia receive food at a camp in Mogadishu, distributed by a local NGO, in Mogadishu, Somalia, July 7, 2011.

A child sits in her father's lap as they wait outside a derelict building before they make their way to the internally displaced camps in Mogadishu, Somalia, after fleeing from southern Somalia, July 7, 2011.

A Somali refugee drags a sack with food aid given to her at a food distribution point at the Dagahaley Camp, outside Dadaab, Kenya, July 4, 2011.