UN requests $42 million to assist in violence-torn Kenya

(New York/Nairobi, 16 January 2008): The United Nations appealed today on behalf of the Government of Kenya for over $41.8 million to provide humanitarian and early-recovery assistance to some 500,000 people affected by violence that erupted in the country following the contested presidential vote. The Kenya Emergency Humanitarian Response Plan 2008, launched earlier today by John Holmes, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, is an action plan developed by 22 aid partners, including United Nations agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), with the participation of the Government.

The Response Plan presents the strategic priorities for immediate humanitarian action in response to the current humanitarian crisis. Initial assessments conducted by the United Nations and partners identified food, protection, shelter, water and sanitation, disease outbreak prevention, as well as non-food items as top priority needs. These needs will be addressed through some 63 assistance projects, which will be implemented in the coming months. The appeal is likely to be revised in the future to reflect changes in the humanitarian situation and required response.

Many parts of Kenya plummeted into chaos as violence raged in the days following the announcement of the results of the presidential vote of 27 December. Nearly 600 people were killed and some 255,000 became displaced in the turmoil, while another 6,100 Kenyans fled to neighbouring Uganda. The United Nations partner, the Kenyan Red Cross Society (KRCS), estimates that the number of those affected by the post-electoral violence could be as high as 500,000. The three western provinces of the country, Rift Valley, Nyanza and Western, as well as slum areas of the capital, Nairobi, were the most affected, while a near total paralysis of major economic and business centres, such as the city port of Mombasa, and closures of major transit arteries throughout the country cut off supplies to many parts of the country and the region. Even though the situation is slowly improving, population movements from and within the affected areas are still being reported. As the political stalemate endures, aid workers remain concerned about possible new outbursts of violence that would trigger a further deterioration of the already difficult humanitarian situation.

The United Nations and partners continue to support the Government of Kenya and the KRCS, the agency with the greatest capacity and presence, in their response to the crisis. The World Food Programme's (WFP) food assistance has so far reached some 227,800 people in the three most affected provinces in western Kenya and slum areas of Nairobi, as well as Kenyan refugees in Uganda. For its part, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) distributed family kits and continues to monitor protection needs of the displaced. Meanwhile, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) provided more than $650,000 worth of medical, nutrition, water and sanitation as well as shelter supplies.

Last week, the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) allocated $7 million in support of immediate, life-saving activities in Kenya included in the Response Plan. Thanks to this allocation, the current funding requirements stand at $34.8 million. It was the first 2008 disbursement from the Fund, which, since its inception in March 2006, committed over $619.1 million to some 751 projects in 60 countries.

For further information, please call: Stephanie Bunker, OCHA-New York, +1 917 367 5126, mobile +1 917 892 1679; Christina Bennett, OCHA-New York, +1 917 367 8059; 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.