U.S. President Barack Obama has approved $105 million in new drought and famine aid to East Africa.

The White House says the United States will continue to help those who desperately need food, shelter, water and medicine.

So far this year, the United States has sent about $565 million in aid to Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya, where drought and famine have killed tens of thousands. The United Nations says more than 12 million people across the Horn of Africa are in dire need of aid.

Jill Biden, wife of U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, is in Kenya to assess the impact of the drought. Mrs. Biden toured the Dadaab refugee camps, where tens of thousands of Somali famine refugees have fled in recent weeks.

She also will meet with Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga to discuss ways of responding to the crisis.

Former U.S. Senator Bill Frist, and the administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, Raj Shah, are accompanying Mrs. Biden.