CERF allocates over $4 million for humanitarian assistance to refugees in Kenya

Eighty-five percent of all of Kenya's 320,000 refugees are now sheltered in three congested camps at Dadaab in Kenya's Northeastern Province. However, conditions have only deteriorated as Somali refugees continue to arrive at a rate of 8,000 per month. Current estimates suggest that 60,000 more refugees may arrive in the second half of the year.

Responding to this situation, CERF has allocated some $4.2 million to assist Somali refugees in Kenya. The funds will help to kick-start a programme for alleviating severe overcrowding in the three Dadaab camps, which now host some 279,000 refugees, three times the number the camps were intended to host. The largest portion, some $2.6 million, will go to an International Organisation for Migration (IOM) programme to relocate approximately 12,700 people from Dadaab to the Kakuma camp, benefiting not only those who are relocated but also the people who remain in Dadaab by easing the strain on scarce resources. Another $1.6 million will go to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and partners to help provide support services such as the provision of food and health services in the Kakuma camp.