Six million children in Ethiopia are hungry and without clean water. It is in all of our interests to help Ethiopia overcome the worst drought in 50 years.

When 4-year-old Malou first arrived at the Save the Children stabilization center in the small community of Fedeto, she was severely underweight and limp, her feet swollen. But having been treated for the effects of malnutrition, and it seemed starting on the road to recovery, she now has a second battle on her hands -- to overcome pneumonia. This is just a small illustration of Ethiopia’s current crisis: that a child who fought one life threatening illness would emerge from that, only to be exposed to another.

Children are at the forefront of this suffering, amid the country’s worst drought in 50 years, with 6 million said to be at risk. We need $600 million to tackle this crisis. I implore the international community to step up and urgently respond.

The irony is that the environment has been particularly cruel to a country which has been doing all it can to improve itself. Perceptions of Ethiopia are fraught with contradictions, but there are two equally important facts that are at risk of being lost in the mire.

Ethiopia is not any country. It is a country right in the middle of an economic U turn -- despite ranking the second poorest country in the world, it is now achieving steady economic growth, at an average of 10 percent per year in the last decade, and set to be a middle income country within the next 10 years.

This is not just any drought. This is the worst drought in 50 years. The extent to which the rains have failed is unprecedented, regional temperatures are higher than ever, and we are dealing with the strongest El Nino on record. The damage caused by climate change and erratic weather patterns driven by El Nino are only going to see conditions worsen.

Ethiopia is financially secure enough to respond to the crisis alone if it has to, but not without detriment to the massive development progress it has made so far -- or without damaging its ability to respond well into the future.

Rainfall patterns are deteriorating at an alarming rate in East Africa. The spring rains, which usually bring 15 days of rainfall a month between February and April are now two months overdue. In places like Siti Zone in the east of the country, this is the third failed rainy season since mid-2014. The landscape paints a bleak picture of dried leaves on tiny shrubs, peppered with the carcasses of emaciated livestock and dried out, cracked, riverbeds. Around a third of the population -- including 6 million children -- are now entering the “hunger season,” facing critical food shortages.

It is important to note that Ethiopia has made huge strides since previous droughts. In 1990, it was estimated that 204 Ethiopian children in every 1,000 would die before their fifth birthday. By 2012, the country had reduced this toll by 67 percent, meeting its Millennium Development Goal commitment to reduce child deaths three years ahead of time.

The Ethiopian government has shown strong leadership in the food crisis too, committing an unprecedented $380 million to tackling the growing emergency. Nongovernmental organizations have worked with the government in recent years to channel development funds into strengthening resilience, and the country is better equipped than ever to respond to the crisis. These factors are the reason we are not seeing the loss of life we saw previously.

But the scale of this crisis cannot be overstated. An estimated 6 million children are currently hungry or without access to clean water. Save the Children is working closely with the government to identify the areas in most critical need. Much of our work in the 100 stabilization centers we operate in focuses on treating moderate acute malnutrition, and preventing it from reaching the “severe” stage, which is much harder to recover from, and has long-term implications on child development and health. Children who are malnourished do not have the resilience to fend off other childhood illnesses, like measles or diarrhea -- two of the major causes of under-5 mortality.

Ethiopia offers economic hope to the horn of Africa -- it is one of the most stable countries in the region, attracting significant overseas investment. It provides a haven to 750,000 refugees, the largest amount in Africa, many of whom are fleeing conflict in neighboring countries. It is critical that we recognize the value in having a stable country in this region.

The International community invested heavily in bringing Ethiopia to a point where it can lead a self-sustaining economy, capable of withstanding crises. This included the development of all the early warning systems to identify risk and to stop emergencies like the current food crisis escalating into a catastrophe. It is the failing of us all, if we ignore the sound of the alarm bells ringing now.

By Helle Thorning-Schmidt

Helle Thorning-Schmidt is CEO of Save the Children International. -- Ed.