17 April 2009: In Djibouti, the most vulnerable populations, particularly the inhabitants of Tadjourah and Dikhil regions, mainly consisting of pastoralists in rural areas, as well as those of the peri-urban areas of Djibouti City, have been pushed to a critical state owing to the compound effects of recurrent drought (50 percent below normal rainfall patterns in 2005, 2006 and 2008) combined with ever shorter recovery periods, the soaring prices of food staples in 2008, regional instability, and the current world financial crisis.
8 October 2009: In the second underfunded emergency round, at least 141,000 people will benefit from $1 million allocated from CERF.
Nearly $250,000 has been allocated to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to provide 60,000 people with safe water supply and adequate sanitation and hygiene education. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) received $200,000 to increase the resilience of 45,000 pastoral populations affected by drought and malnutrition. The World Food Programme (WFP) will use $200,000 from CERF to provide general food distribution to 21,000 vulnerable people in rural areas in Dikhil, Tadjourah, Ali Sabieh, Obock, and Arta regions, including the provision of nutritional rations to 2,000 children under five. Another $200,000 will enable the World Health Organization (WHO) to increase geographical coverage of mobile teams in rural and suburban areas of five regions (Tadjourah, Obock, Ali Sabieh, Dikhil and Arta), catering to health care and malnutrition treatment needs of about 50,000 of the most vulnerable population group. The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) will use $150,000 to improve water delivery and quality; strengthen health care; and, support HIV/AIDS protection for an expected 12,000 refugees in Ali Addeh camp.