The Government has announced a €1m aid package for the humanitarian effort in the Horn of Africa.
It follows a United Nations warning that more than 800,000 children could die from starvation in the Horn of Africa.
The region is suffering its worst drought for 60 years, and parts of Somalia are officially in famine.
The Government's funding will go towards emergency feeding and an airlift of emergency supplies.
The UN's High Commissioner of Human Rights, and former President Mary Robinson, has said drought is part of the problem, and there is no rain due for months yet.