Horn of Africa: Donors wanted "proof of a human catastrophe before acting to prevent one"

The deaths of up to a hundred thousand people in drought-affected Horn of Africa could have been minimised had there been a swift reaction from international community and aid agencies, according to a report.

A new report by Oxfam and Save the Children says early warning systems forecast an emergency situation as early as August 2010, but a full scale response to the drought didn't start until July last year.

It said donors wanted "proof of a human catastrophe before acting to prevent one".

By that time malnutrition levels had deteriorated and parts of Somalia were declared famine zones.

Al Jazeera's Barbara Angopa reports.