Donations to Irish aid agencies for the famine hit East Africa region have reached €12 million, the charity group Dóchas has said.
Damien Queally, Dóchas chairman, said the public had responded well to the suffering of millions affected by the crisis over the past six weeks.
"As the scale of the disaster has become clear, people in Ireland have responded with tremendous generosity. The Irish public has now donated some €12 million to aid agencies working in the region," Mr Queally said.
Dóchas, which represents more than 40 Irish aid and development organisations, expressed its gratitude for the donations which had been raised through church-collections, sponsored walks and other community activities.
Famine has broken out in areas of Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya following a period of severe drought.
Concern regional director Angela O'Neill said the charity had recorded a 62 per cent rise in the number of children seeking treatment in urban centres in Kenya as a result of the drought. Staff members were working with the Kenyan ministry of health to treat children under the age of five for symptoms of malnutrition, she said.
Irish Aid said that state funding for aid to those working in the region had reached €5.6 million.