UN appeals for $35 million for Somali refugees in Kenya

(New York: 16 October 2006): The aid community has issued a $35 million Flash Appeal for Kenya to meet the needs of increasing numbers of Somali refugees over the next six months.

Due to the fear of a wider civil war in Somalia, intra- and inter-clan fighting, drought, and increasing destitution, steadily increasing numbers of Somalis have fled to north-eastern Kenya. Reports by the United Nations Food Security Analysis Unit (FSAU) in Somalia indicate that an estimated 1.8 million people in the north, central, and southern regions of Somalia are facing acute food shortages. This refugee migration is occurring in a predominantly pastoralist area of Kenya already severely stressed by three seasons of drought, with the majority of pastoralist households already dependent on humanitarian aid.

Refugees are coming from Mogadishu, Baidoa and Kismayo. From January through August 2006, 24,000 refugees (an average of 100 per day) had entered the Dadaab refugee complex in north-eastern Kenya. September saw much more rapid migration, with arrivals averaging 300 per day. In October, the influx has accelerated to an average of 800 per day. However, from 4 to 5 October, over 2000 refugees entered Kenya, and on 10 October over 1400 refugees arrived. The Somali population in the three Dadaab refugee camps now amounts to 160,000.

As a result of this worsening emergency, Jan Egeland, the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator, in September 2006, granted $3.5 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). This assistance allowed the start of relief aid, including improved health care and water delivery, and the continuation of food aid to the new refugees. The commitment of $3.5 million from the CERF leaves funding requirements for this appeal of $31,752,275. Priority needs are food aid and the expansion of health, nutrition and water provision, along with the continuation of protection assistance, including the reception and transportation of refugees from the border points to Dadaab.

The current camps in Dadaab can absorb only 50,000 additional refugees, so a fourth camp will be needed for an expected influx up to 80,000 people. Of particular importance in the health sector is the need for an emergency immunization programme at the main border points. There have been 30 cases of polio so far in Somalia in 2006. The Ministry of Health in Kenya has announced that a three-year-old child in Dadaab has polio. As Kenya has been polio-free since 1984, it is of vital importance that all new arrivals be vaccinated immediately for both polio and measles. Emergency vaccination programmes will also be conducted in the neighbouring districts of north-eastern Kenya. Food aid support is essential given the high global acute malnutrition rate of 22 per cent amongst children under five years in the Dadaad camps and the four-month time lag between new contributions and food arriving in the camps.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will lead the emergency response in collaboration with the Government of Kenya, the World Food Programme (WFP), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the World Health Organisation (WHO). These agencies are supported by CARE, Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), the National Council of Churches in Kenya (NCCK) and Handicap International (HI).

The Flash Appeal will also be officially launched in Nairobi on 26 October 2006.

For further information, please call: Stephanie Bunker, OCHA-New York, +1 917 367 5126, mobile +1 917 892 1679; Kristen Knutson, OCHA-New York, +1 917 367 9262; Elisabeth Byrs, OCHA-Geneva, +41 22 917 2653, mobile, +41 79 473 4570. OCHA press releases are available at http://ochaonline.un.org or www.reliefweb.int.