UN issues $100m emergency funding and calls for global effort to avert famine

Organisation says money pledged is not enough' and warns of potential for huge number of child deaths

The UN has earmarked $100m (75m) in emergency funding for seven countries deemed at risk of famine, warning that without immediate action the world could see huge numbers of children dying on TV screens".

The climate crisis, Covid-19, conflict and economic decline have created an acute and grave crisis" in Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, South Sudan and Yemen, where millions of people are facing emergency levels of food insecurity, UN humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock told the Guardian.