THE lives of nearly six million children are at risk in the Southern Africa crisis.

Without urgent food assistance, these children's lives will be blighted forever and many may not survive. Children's bodies have already become weakened by a lack of vital nutrients, making them more susceptible to crippling and deadly diseases such as measles, cholera and polio.

UNICEF urgently needs funds to step up its work to fight disease outbreaks and help provide communities with access to safe drinking water and therapeutic feeding for severely malnourished children.

In Zimbabwe, nearly a million children do not have access to safe drinking water and sanitation facilities which has led to outbreaks of cholera in seven districts. Cholera has already resulted in more than 1,000 deaths in Malawi.

UNICEF is rushing water cans, soap, water purification tablets and chloride to the region to ensure that communities have access to safe water.

UNICEF is focusing resources on feeding programmes to ensure the survival of children facing food shortages with extra rations.