Ethiopia has more than halved its child mortality rates since 1990 through campaigns to increase the number of health workers and clinics throughout the country, government and aid officials said on Friday.

The number of health posts has surged to more than 9,000 in 2011 from a handful in 2004 with priority shifted towards food-insecure areas, UNICEF said.

In other good news for Africa, Kuwait announced this week that it has contributed $250,000 to UNICEF for humanitarian assistance during the continuing food crisis in Somalia.

Since the beginning of July, UNICEF has transported more than 24,000 metric tons of life-saving supplies to Somalia, with 140 chartered flights, on 106 vessels and 90 trucks helping 350,000 families.

(READ the news from Reuters)