It should be noted that Somalia is one of the four countries categorized as being close to facing serious famine, alongside Nigeria, South Sudan and Yemen where more than 20 million people face horrific conditions, thus requiring urgent action to avoid the spread of famine to wider areas. United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres announced on 22 February 2017 that UN relief agencies urgently require $4.4 billion by the end of March to tackle famine in Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan and Nigeria, and that what has been received so far does not exceed $90 million. The UN Secretary General also stated that 1.4 million children are susceptible to imminent death due to famine in the four countries, while 462,000 children face acute malnutrition in Yemen alone due to the civil war that has been raging for two years. In the face of this humanitarian disaster, the OIC General Secretariat shares the deep concerns of many humanitarian partners about the size of international response towards possible famine in Somalia which had suffered a similar fate between 2010 and 2012 leading to the death of 260,000 people. The General Secretariat warns about the consequences of slow humanitarian intervention and the need to act immediately. --More 13:20 LOCAL TIME 10:20 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w348533