Children's lives at stake due to El Nino

An estimated 11 million children are at risk from hunger, disease and lack of water in eastern and southern Africa as a result of a strengthening El Nino, the UN children's fund, UNICEF, warned on Tuesday. El Nino is also causing droughts and floods in parts of Asia, the Pacific and Latin America, it added.

The consequences could ripple through generations unless affected communities receive support amid crop failures and lack of access to drinking water that are leaving children malnourished and at risk of killer diseases, UNICEF said in a report called "A Wake Up Call: El Nino's Impact on Children".

Besides the immediate risks of death and injury, El Nino can lead to significant increases in diseases such as malaria, dengue fever, diarrhea and cholera, which are major killers of children.