UN funding appeal for Kenya boosted by $150 million due to drought

The United Nations announced today it has upped by $150 million its emergency aid appeal for Kenya, where severe drought has followed hard on the heels of civil conflict that erupted after disputed elections earlier this year and left hundreds of thousands displaced.

Inadequate rainfall in the latter part of last year has been blamed for drought in the Horn of Africa, which is also expected to lead to reduced crop harvests in Ethiopia, Djibouti, Eritrea, and south-central Somalia.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that 840,000 people are at risk from the drought in the northern parts of the country, in addition to the 500,000 people affected by post-conflict disruptions nationwide.

OCHA’s Emergency Humanitarian Response Plan for Kenya now requests a total of $189 million, including the funding received since the original plan was launched in January, to cover humanitarian needs through 2008.