The clock is ticking for a significant number of children in the southeastern part of Ethiopia who are already under life-threatening conditions.

The relief operation worked really well. There were very few cases of preventable death, no epidemics, no mass cases of dysentery. We vaccinated against measles. We had blankets, coats, sweaters distributed.

Drought need not be a death sentence for children living in affected communities. We can save thousands of lives if we can get the emergency health, nutrition, water and sanitation interventions to them before it is too late.

We may be six months on from the earthquake and through a mercifully mild winter, but there is still the monsoon to come and the next winter is only seven months away.

There is a growing emergency for more than 56,000 children who are believed to be suffering from moderate and severe malnutrition in affected areas. the figure is expected to rise dramatically over the next three months.