UN gears up to help Red Cross assist Kenyans in need

(New York, 03 January 2008): The United Nations Country Team in Kenya is working in partnership with the Kenyan Red Cross Society (KRCS) to help provide humanitarian aid in view of the humanitarian problems which have arisen in the post-electoral period. The KRCS estimates that at present at least 100,000 persons require immediate humanitarian assistance in the northern Rift Valley alone, with many stranded without food, shelter, water, fuel, essential medicines or protection. As violence continues, the KRCS has announced that up to 400,000 or 500,000 persons could soon be in need of vital humanitarian assistance. However, confirmed and country-wide statistics are still unavailable.

The United Nations World Food Programme is providing enough legumes and oil to the KRCS for distribution to 100,000 people for one month, initially in the Rift Valley. This will complement 1,800 metric tonnes of cereal that the Government has made available, an amount which can feed 120,000 people for one month. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has made clear that it is ready to assist up to 85,000 people with shelter and non-food items, depending upon the evaluation of the situation. Specifically, UNICEF indicated that 13,000 family kits, comprised of blankets, tarpaulins, cooking sets, soap, and jerry cans, are locally pre-positioned and 2,000 family kits are in the pipeline.

Since the announcement of the results of the presidential vote on 27 December, many parts of Kenya have experienced a serious break-down of law and order, with an unconfirmed death toll of up to 300. KRCS reported yesterday that roughly 70,000-80,000 people have been displaced by the unrest in the northern Rift Valley. Many persons elsewhere in the country, including about 10,000 people in Kibera, a slum area of Nairobi, have been forced to flee their homes and seek refuge in safer areas. In addition, unconfirmed reports talk of hundreds of Kenyan refugees arriving in Uganda in recent days. A joint government-UN mission is scheduled to visit the area today to determine the numbers of arrivals and their needs, if any.

"The United Nations humanitarian agencies in Kenya are gearing up to do everything necessary to help displaced and needy Kenyans at this difficult time," said John Holmes, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. "Meanwhile, all political leaders in Kenya have a responsibility to protect the lives and livelihoods of innocent people, regardless of their racial, religious or ethnic origin, and ensure that relief can safely reach those in need," he added. Mr. Holmes also deplored the reported "troubling" increase in sexual and genderbased violence.

For further information, please call: Stephanie Bunker, OCHA-New York, +1 917 367 5126, mobile +1 917 892 1679; 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.