The United States has offered $105 million (£64 million) in new aid to famine and drought-hit East Africa, where millions of people are facing starvation and need immediate, lifesaving help.
Mrs Biden said she was here to "raise awareness" among ordinary Americans of the "dire situation" of the famine Photo: Reuters
The announcement coincided with a visit to Kenya by Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, which included a tour of refugee camps and meetings with top government figures.
"The president has approved an additional $105 million for urgent humanitarian relief efforts in the Horn of Africa," White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement.
"US assistance will continue funding the urgently needed food, health, shelter, water and sanitation assistance to those who desperately need help."
Meanwhile, figures released by the Disasters Emergency Committee and seen by the Guardian revealed that British donations are somewhat behind levels reached by previous appeals. In the first weeks of the campaign, £45 million in total donations were received by the DEC, compared to the eventual total of £396 million raised in the aftermath of the 2004 Boxing day tsunami and the £106 million for the Haiti earthquake.
The United Nations last month declared famine in two areas of southern Somalia, as the world slowly mobilized to help 12 million people battling hunger in the region's worst drought in 60 years.
Thousands of Somalis fleeing the famine have poured into Kenya and Ethiopia, compounding the problems faced by those two nations.
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