UN chief calls for 'immediate' funding for Horn of Africa

The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday called on nations to immediately ramp up funding to prevent a "catastrophe" in the Horn of Africa, which is suffering its worst drought in generations.

The United Nations says that more than 43 million people across Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya urgently need lifesaving and life-sustaining assistance. The secretary-general said only 20 percent of the UN's humanitarian response plan for the region was funded so far.

The UN humanitarian agency OCHA has said that amounts to only 1.63 billion U.S. dollars pledged. Deaths from hunger are on the rise in Africa because of droughts worsened by climate change and conflict, UN officials and scientists say.