UN fund allocates $5 million to help rising number of Somalis fleeing to Kenya

With Somali refugees continuing to flood into Kenya for relief from violence and drought, the United Nations emergency relief fund has targeted five million dollars to cover gaps in their nutritional needs, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) announced today.

The grant from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) was issued following a request by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for additional funding in order to respond to the multiple needs of an estimated 230,000 Somalis are now sheltered in congested camps in Kenya’s Northeastern Province.

Some of the camps in the 17-year-old Dadaab complex, located near the Somali border, are now three times their initial capacity, with thousands of new Somalis arriving each month, according to UNHCR.

More than 65,000 new Somali refugees entered Kenya in 2008 and the number is expected to continue rising because of rapidly worsening security conditions, OCHA said.

Some of the funds, which will be allocated to the UNHCR and two other UN agencies, will also be used to support Sudanese refugees in the same Kenyan camps, according to OCHA.

The efforts of the World Food Programme (WFP) will focus on ensuring that newly arrived refugees get the minimum nutritional requirements. The agency also aims to meet the special nutrition needs of vulnerable groups through a selective feeding programme.

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) asked for additional funding to promote access to essential nutritional services.

Last month, the UN and its partners launched a major appeal for some $913 million to help provide humanitarian assistance to an estimated 3.2 million needy people in Somalia during the coming year.

CERF, which now stands at $452.5 million, was created by the General Assembly in 2006 to allow the world body quick access to funds that could save lives in sudden crises.