Idol Gives Back, a two-day televised charity event sponsored by Fox, American Idol, and Charity Projects Entertainment Fund to help children and young people in extreme poverty here in the United States and Africa, views malaria as a gateway issue, Edlund said.

FORBES: Gates Fights To Eradicate Malaria

For months, Gao has been in the hands of the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (Mujao), which along with Ansar Dine has sought to enforce an extreme interpretation of Islamic law in northern Mali.

BBC: Mali: France pledges 'short' campaign against Islamists

Somalia was worst hit by the extreme drought in 2011 that affected more than 13 million people across the Horn of Africa.

BBC: Somalia famine 'killed 260,000 people'

The intelligence assessment found Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and Central and Southeast Asia are most vulnerable to warming-related drought, flooding, extreme weather and hunger, Fingar said.

NPR: Linking Climate Change, National Security