UN: Deputy Foreign Minister Sereni attends the high-level side event on the humanitarian emergency in the Horn of Africa

Today, on the sidelines of the High-Level Week of the United Nations 77^th General Assembly, Italy, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Qatar, in conjunction with the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Kenya and Somalia, promoted a high-level side event on the humanitarian emergency in the Horn of Africa.

The Horn of Africa is going through a serious humanitarian crisis due to the unprecedented effects of climate change, insecurity, a rise in disease and the sequels of COVID-19, and of the war in Ukraine. To date, more than 36 million people have been suffering the consequences of drought and more than 20.5 million people are in a condition of acute food insecurity, a number that the UN estimates could rise to 26 million by February 2023.

In her opening remarks, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Marina Sereni, highlighted Italy's commitment to support the populations in the region and recalled how the Horn of Africa represents one of priority areas of Italy's Cooperation efforts. In 2022, our Country allocated approximately 40 million euros as gift contributions to those Countries for emergency and development projects. Deputy Foreign Minister Sereni announced a further 6-million-euro contribution to UN Agencies to respond to the fast-growing humanitarian needs in the region.