The United Nations declared famine in two regions of Southern Somalia on Wednesday and warned that it could spread further in two months until donor countries step in. The region is experiencing its worst drought in 60 years. According to the United Nations tens of thousands of people have already died of malnutrition in Somalia and 10 million people in east Africa have been affected.

The United Nations estimates that about $1 billion is needed to help the starving millions of the country. However, only $200 million has come in over the past two weeks. In order to fill up the $800 million funding gap, countries like the US will have to step up their aid. Oxfam, an international confederation of 15 organizations working across the globe to eradicate poverty and injustice, has lamented the failure of major donor countries to contribute generously.

In a report by PR newswire, most countries have been very slow in their response to giving aid to the war and drought ravaged country. While the US contributed $383 million in drought relief in 2011, it has pledged only $15 million in new money over the past couple of weeks. Besides, most of the US assistance to Somalia till date has been directed at northern and central Somalia.

While Germany and Spain have made initial contributions, Italy, Denmark and France have not pledged anything new. The UK has pledged an estimated $145 million in the past two weeks that accounts for almost 15 percent of what is needed. This gallery shows the desperation of the starving victims of the country as they try to cope with malnutrition, hunger and drought.

Worst drought of Africa in 60 years
A Somalian woman hoes the arid soil as her daughters follow behind throwing seeds into the ground, near Burdhuhunle village in southern Somalia, 370km (230 miles) west of the capital Mogadishu in this March 29, 2006 file photo. Hundreds of people and tens of thousands of livestock have died from hunger and thirst across east Africa in the region's worst drought in years, which the United Nations says threatens up to 11 million people. Aid workers say Somalia is particularly vulnerable. The Horn of Africa country of 10 million people is carved into fiefdoms run by rival warlords, and insecurity and an unstable government make food deliveries extremely difficult. REUTERS
Millions of Malnourished Children in Horn of Africa are at Risk of Dying
A woman holds her malnourished child on arrival at Banadir hospital in Mogadishu July 7, 2011. The United Nations says 2.8 million people in Somalia need emergency aid after the worst drought in 60 years hit the Horn of Africa region. In the worst-hit areas, one in three children is suffering from malnutrition. REUTERS/Ismail Taxta
Women rush into a feeding centre in a camp established by the Somali Transitional Federal Government for the internally displaced people in Mogadishu
The United Nations said on Wednesday two regions of southern Somalia had been hit by the worst famine in the area for 20 years and that 3.7 million people in the anarchic Horn of Africa nation risked starvation. REUTERS/Ho New
A woman covers her face with a cooking pot as she queues for food in a camp established by the Somali Transitional Federal Government for the internally displaced people in Mogadishu
People in Southern Somalia are desperate for a morsel of food to calm their raging hunger. Anguish and despair are clearly written on their faces. REUTERS/Ho New
Somali government soldiers stand guard over internally displaced people as they wait for food aid at a camp in the capital Mogadishu
Donor countries need to step up and provide the starving millions with much needed assistance. REUTERS/Feisal Omar
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