CERF allocates $5 million for humanitarian assistance to Somali and Sudanese refugees in Kenya
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Somali refugee children in Kenya [Photo: IRIN]
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31 December 2008: Kenya hosts over 300,000 refugees mainly from Somalia and Sudan. Continued insecurity in Somalia has forced additional tens of thousands to seek refugee in Kenya.
As part of an overall emergency relief assistance programme, the CERF has provided the World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) with $5 million to deal with the increasing caseload of refugees. Funding is ensuring that the 67,000 new arrivals will receive adequate food, healthcare, shelter, sanitation and education into 2009.
[Last update: 8 January 2009]
CERF allocates $3.6 million to respond to acute malnutrition in Kenya
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A mother and her malnourished child in Kenya [Photo: IRIN]
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12 September 2008: Kenya is still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s post-election violence. Tens of thousands are still displaced and living in camps. The disruption to the planting season, combined with erratic weather, has resulted in low production of staple foods such as maize and beans. Rising food and energy costs worsened the situation.
CERF has allocated $6 million to relief agencies in the country. With the funding, WFP will provide 191,000 returnees and displaced people with food assistance while United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) will focus on preventing and treating malnutrition in affected areas, benefiting some 174,000 women and children. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) will provide emergency agricultural support to alleviate the impact of food prices on the most affected vulnerable rural, peri-urban and pastoralist populations of Kenya, reaching nearly 30,000 farming families.
[Last update: 3 November 2008]
CERF allocates $560,000 to provide health and nutrition support in Kenya
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| An IDP camp in the open field in Kenya [Photo: IRIN] |
26 August 2008: The World Health Organization (WHO) is responding to the health needs of displaced Kenyans using CERF funds. High malnutrition rates have prompted WHO to improve the diagnosis and management of severe acute malnutrition in health facilities while providing them with essential drugs. Furthermore, a Black fever (visceral leishmaniasis) outbreak has created a need for monitoring of the disease. Black fever can be fatal if left untreated and can be easily confused or diagnosed as severe malnutrition.
Critical gaps in the health structure of IDPs camps are being addressed by a CERF-funded WHO project. Disease and water quality early warning systems are being put in place to prevent disease outbreaks. Local health facilities are being provided with supplies by WHO to respond to outbreaks and other health emergencies and for basic health care.
[Last update: 29 August 2008]
CERF allocates $1.5 million to support displaced persons in Kenya
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| An IDP camp in Kenya [Photo: IRIN] |
5 August 2008: The post-election violence following the December 2007 disputed Kenyan presidential elections resulted in over 1,200 deaths and displaced an estimated 500,000 people to camps and with host families. Approximately 4,000 houses were damaged or destroyed and the majority of IDPs have lost most of their property to looting or burning.
The Kenyan Government operation “Rudi Nyumbani” (Return Home), launched in early May 2008 to resettle displaced families, has resulted in a multiplication of smaller, poorly serviced “transit” sites, most of which lack access to essential services including water and sanitation. Over 83,000 returning IDPs are currently housed in over 180 transit camps in the affected district of North Rift Valley, Molo district of South Rift and Nyanza. These numbers are expected to continue to increase with the planned closure of the remaining established IDP sites.
The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) is using CERF funds to address gender based violence in transit sites. It is distributing basic hygiene kits and post-rape treatment kits, and developing safe community sites for increased protection of women and girls. Furthermore, UNFPA is ensuring lighting in selected areas and printing gender educational materials.
To address the widespread lack of shelter for the most vulnerable returnees, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and International Organization for Migration (IOM) are utilizing CERF funds to provide basic Transitional Shelter Kits (TSK) to families whose homes have been completely destroyed to enable rapid reconstruction of basic shelter or repair materials for families with damaged houses. UNHCR is purchasing and distributing shelter material packages for repair of damaged houses for 1,200 families and providing emergency heavy plastic tarpaulins to 1,000 families in transit camps. IOM is supplying transitional shelter kits to 700 returnee families in the North Rift Valley.
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is using a CERF grant to meet the most urgent water and sanitation needs of at least 55,000 returning IDPs and 5,000 primary school children. It is supplying and supporting the rehabilitation and protection of 200 water points in returnee areas while constructing separate latrines for boys and girls in 10 primary schools in returnee areas. UNICEF is also training 200 Village Water Committees and conducting a hygiene and sanitation education campaign in 20 schools and surrounding communities.
[Last update: 27 August 2008]
CERF allocates $7 million to aid those displaced by post-election violence in Kenya
10 January 2008: As result of the current post-election crisis in Kenya, there are immediate health needs including emergency surgical, medical and primary health care services. In all situations of instability incidences of rape have a tendency to rise. Since the beginning of the post election violence reports of rape have been emerging. Additionally, access to health care is more difficult as people have been displaced including the health staff. Pregnant women are not able to access the health services they need. In the health sector the immediate impact of the violence on the people is trauma, be it physical, psychosocial or by gender-based violence. A US$ 45.6 million Flash Appeal was issued on 16 January to help fund the humanitarian response in Kenya. WHO, UNICEF and UNFPA are using CERF funds to effectively respond to the health needs of the population affected by the on going crisis. CERF funds complement other assistance being provided by the Kenya Red Cross Socitey, Kenyan Government, bilateral donors and civic organisations.
WHO and UNICEF will respond to urgent health needs of those directly affected by conflict and respond to diseases of epidemic potential in affected communities and displaced people through the provision of Trauma Kits, Interagency Emergency Health Kits, Reproductive Kits and other essential drugs, commodities and supplies, tools and guidelines (i.e. infection control and injection safety) while increasing vaccination coverage for measles for all displaced children less than five years in affected communities. UNFPA will provide emergency obstetric care and provide clean delivery kits and for pregnant women and ensure the availability of post rape treatment equipment and drugs including post exposure prophylaxis.
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| Some of the internally displaced people recieve food aids in Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya. [Photo: IRIN] |
WFP is requesting food assistance for 250,000 internally displaced persons in North Rift Valley Province, Nyanza Province, Western Province and Nairobi slums for a period of six weeks. WFP plans to provide 8,550 mt of food commodities, including cereals, pulses, vegetable oil and corn-soya blend.
Kenya Red Cross have estimated over 100,000 IDPs affected by the violence are congregating in public places such as police stations, churches and schools and these sites are unable to provide drinking water or sanitation facilities to the IDPs, which will very quickly lead to a deteriorating situation with a potential of disease outbreaks and deaths amongst vulnerable groups. UNICEF is taking the lead in the coordination of water and sanitation emergency response activities. These include distributing water and sanitation supplies and supplying safe water and supplying and constructing emergency sanitation facilities.
UNHCR will use CERF funds to support the Kenya Red Cross Society’s distribution of non-food items to the displaced populations across the country by providing items for 100,000 displaced victims consisting of blankets, jerry cans, kitchen sets, soap, and mosquito nets. UNHCR will also support the deployment of emergency protection staff to assist in setting up IDP sites and identifying vulnerable persons and their needs to enable humanitarian partners to respond efficiently and effectively to the IDP needs.
[Last update: 15 January 2008]