A UN agency is hosting an emergency meeting in Rome on Monday July 25, to mobilize action to fight famine in Somalia, Kenya and other drought-hit nations in East Africa, estimating that more than 11-million people on the brink of starvation need help in the drought-hit region.

The worst drought in 60 years over the last few months killed tens of thousands of people, forcing desperate survivors to walk for weeks in search of food and water. People who can barely stay on their feet due to hunger, walk for days or even weeks through parched wasteland to find aid.

The European Union Aid Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva has vowed to do all that is possible to help 12 million people struggling from extreme drought, boosting aid by 27.8 million euros ($40 million). The funds come on top of almost 70 million euros ($100 million) the bloc has already contributed as assistance in the worst regional drought in decades, affecting parts of Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Djibouti and Uganda.

Aid agencies, however, are unable to reach more than two million Somalis facing starvation in the famine-struck Horn of Africa country where Islamist insurgents control much of the worst-hit areas, the UN's food agency said on Saturday.