By Muchena Zigomo

JOHANNESBURG, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Close to 150,000 children in southern Africa are in need of humanitarian assistance because of deadly floods that have engulfed the region, the U.N. Children's Fund said on Wednesday.

Afshan Kahn, UNICEF's associate director for eastern and southern Africa, said children accounted for about a third of those in dire need after severe flooding in Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia and other countries.

At least 45 people have died since torrential rains swept through the region in December and January. The subsequent floods have swept away livestock and crops, prompting fears of food shortages and outbreaks of disease.

"Most of the children are in a camp setting and much more vulnerable than they are at home being taken care of," Kahn told Reuters at the launch of UNICEF's Humanitarian Action Report for 2008.

The report details the main humanitarian challenges for children and their families in eastern and southern Africa.

"We have seen some incidents of children being separated from their families and needing to be reunited and we have seen some incidents of abuse because girls are now out in the open," Kahn said.

U.N. agencies have said Mozambique has been the worst affected by the floods.

Authorities in the former Portuguese colony said on Monday they would evacuate 100,000 people because of fears of further flooding along the Zambezi River, which runs through a number of other African nations. (Reporting by Muchena Zigomo; editing by Paul Simao)

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