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UN Secretary General António Guterres has announced the largest-ever allocation from its Central Emergency Fund.
He was speaking on the sidelines of the AU summit in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
Mr Guterres said the $250m (£208m) would be spent on what he described as “the world’s forgotten crises” including famine in Africa.
This might sound like a lot of money but earlier this month the UN said it needed $2.6bn just to help the population of Somalia which is enduring its worst drought in four decades.
The food crisis is one of the main topics on the agenda of African leaders at the summit.
The others are a continent-wide free trade deal and Africa’s many conflicts. It appears that none of these issues will be solved anytime soon.