United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) says immediate action is needed to respond to the severe drought that is ravaging communities in Kenya’s dry regions.
Development Diaries understands that 2.5 million people are already experiencing deep food insecurity as a result of the drought.
According to UNOCHA, nearly $139.5 million is needed to deliver relief to 1.3 million people whose lives have been hardest hit by the crisis.
‘I met with women, men, and children in Wajir, who all told me how their lives are being upended by the drought’, he UN Resident Coordinator for Kenya, Stephen Jackson, said.
‘It is imperative that we act now, working closely with communities and community-led organisations, to alleviate the suffering that has been caused by back-to-back poor rainy seasons’.
An estimated $28.5 million has already been received from donors, including $5 million from the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund.
‘Kenya urgently needs approximately $60 million for food and job security, $40 million for nutrition, $20 million for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), some $10 million for health investments, and $7 million for education and other related sectors’, Jackson said.
‘We aim to deliver a full package of support in counties that will face the deepest and most severe needs in the months to come’.
The Kenya Drought Flash Appeal brings together 45 humanitarian partners, including UN agencies, international non-governmental organizations (NGOs), national NGOs and the Kenya Red Cross Society, to complement the government’s response to the drought crisis in Kenya’s Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASAL).
Source: UN
Photo source: Alabama Extension
