UN agencies seek action to avert Somalia humanitarian crisis

UN agencies are calling for urgent action from the international community to help avert a humanitarian crisis in Somalia.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the UN Children's Fund (Unicef) also called on donors to help them step up their response as well as to consolidate the recent gains made in the Horn of Africa region, Xinhua reported.

"All the signs we saw before 2011's severe famine are here -- reduced humanitarian access, insecurity, increasing food prices, delayed rains and rapidly worsening malnutrition among children. It is vital that we act now to avert another disaster," said John Ging, operations director of the OCHA.

A statement from OCHA received Thursday said Ging was part of a group of emergency directors from UN humanitarian agencies and partner organisations that visited Somalia and Yemen last week.