Almost 1.4 million children "are at imminent risk of death" this year from famine in South Sudan, Nigeria, Somalia and Yemen, the UN children's agency has warned.

Famine was formally declared in parts of South Sudan on Monday by the country's government and the UN. It was the first time in six years that famine had been announced anywhere in the world.

More than 270,000 children there are severely malnourished, UNICEF said. The Charity Save the Children says more than one million children in the country are at risk of starving.

In Yemen, where war has been raging for almost two years, 462,000 children are suffering from acute malnutrition and 450,000 are severely malnourished in north east Nigeria.

Image: A mother feeds her child with a peanut-based paste for treatment of severe acute malnutrition

UNICEF has warned for months about severe malnutrition in northeastern Nigeria, especially in areas that have been largely inaccessible because of the Boko Haram insurgency.


The agency said nearly 500,000 children are expected to face severe malnutrition this year.

Drought in Somalia has left 185,000 children on the brink of famine but UNICEF says that figure is expected to soar to 270,000 in the next few months.

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UNICEF director Anthony Lake appealed for quick action, saying: "We can still save many lives."

UN Security Council ambassadors are due to travel to northern Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger next month to draw international attention to the humanitarian crisis triggered by the conflict with Boko Haram militants.

Civil war has rages in South Sudan and severe inflation has made food unaffordable for many.

Countries at risk of famine

Fighting broke out in the East-African nation in 2013 when President Salva Kiir sacked his deputy who he accused of plotting a coup against him and has continued ever since.

The conflict has left tens of thousands dead and more than three million displaced.