SG/SM/14024
IHA/1297

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks at the High-level Conference on the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) in New York on 16 December:

Five years ago, the United Nations General Assembly launched a new kind of fund: a fund to ensure that when crisis struck, aid workers could start saving lives without delay; a fund that would reach everyone, even in emergencies that have been ignored or forgotten by much of the world; a fund that is fast, fair and efficient.

HIGHLIGHTS

· Explosions rock Nairobi; one person dies and 23 others are injured.

· Humanitarian space decreases with increasing insecurity along the Kenya/Somalia border region.

· Heavy rains hamper delivery of humanitarian assistance as Government and partners finalize flood contingency planning.

· Aid agencies scale down operations in the Dadaab camps following the abduction of two aid workers.

Highlights

Drought Affected Areas

• Over 10,000 people are estimated to be affected by dengue fever in Mandera, with six new cases in Nairobi and Wajir. The GoK and partners are aggressively working to control the outbreak through household-level surveillance and case management in Mandera, and surveillance and vector assessments underway in Isiolo, Eastleigh (Nairobi), Mandera, Wajir and Dadaab.

In 2011 several large measles outbreaks have been reported from member states in the European and African regions, with several reported outbreaks in the Americas linked to Europe or Africa.

HIGHLIGHTS

General Overview

HIGHLIGHTS

■ More than 90 people killed in a fuel pipeline fire blaze incident in Nairobi’s Sinai Lunga Lunga slum

■ Western Kenya affected by floods as drought impacts continue ravaging northern pastoral areas

■ Kenya successfully hosts regional summit on Ending Drought Emergencies: A commitment to Sustainable Development

■ Cholera control operations heightened in Dadaab

Special Focus on Measles, Cholera, and Malaria in the Horn of Africa

Measles Outbreak DREF operation n° MDRKE017