DREF operation n° MDRKE022
GLIDE n° FF-2012-000062-KEN
20 December 2012

Summary: CHF 314,208 was allocated from the IFRC’s Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) on 8 May, 2012, to support the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) in delivering assistance to some 20,832 beneficiaries who were affected by floods.

KRCS support was given through provision of non food items (NFIs), improving access to safe water and undertaking emergency health interventions in the affected areas.

As the March 2013 elections draw near, the risk of increased inter-communal violence is a key concern. In 2012, more than 80,000 people have been displaced by such violence.

AT A GLANCE

• The total number of food insecure people in the Horn of Africa is approximately 8 million people.
  The majority of those in need of humanitarian assistance are in Somalia (2.12 million).

• The European Commission on Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (ECHO) emphasizes that millions of people are still depending on international assistance for their daily sustenance and that funding is still needed, despite eased conditions.

Challenges to achieving food security—climate-related shocks, high food prices, and localized conflict—have remained prevalent in Kenya in the first half of 2012. The number of refugees hosted in the country has continued to increase (although at a far slower rate than in 2011) as a result of the humanitarian crisis in Somalia and conflict in Sudan and South Sudan. However, there has been a general improvement in the situation since the peak of the 2011 drought crisis which left 3.75 million people food- insecure.

NAIROBI [ACTED News] - Following mixed and generally below-average March to May long rains in Northern Kenya, the Kenya Food Security Steering Group (KFSSG) comprised of the Government of Kenya and humanitarian actors is beginning to assess the impact of the long rains in order to put mitigation measures in place. According to the Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWSNET), the lean season may start earlier than usual with livestock migrations already starting in some parts of North-Eastern Kenya due to water shortages and poor pasture conditions.

NAIROBI [ACTED News] - This year has recorded the highest number of flood-affected persons as well as fatalities from floods in the past five years in Kenya, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). More than 100,000 people have been affected by flooding in May in many regions, with at least 65 confirmed dead, according to the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS). Flooding has resulted in the destruction of property and infrastructure, as well as the disruption of livelihood activities, especially small-scale farming.

L’insécurité alimentaire s’aggrave en Syrie et au Yémen, dans un climat de troubles civils

13 juin 2012, Rome - D'après le bulletin trimestriel de la FAO sur la production agricole et la sécurité alimentaire, les perspectives sont globalement bonnes pour la production céréalière mondiale, mais plusieurs régions devraient faire face aux conséquences des pluies insuffisantes, du climat rigoureux, des conflits armés et des déplacements de populations.

The Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) through its Bungoma and Mt. Elgon Branches began carrying out free medical camps in the Mt. Elgon area from Tuesday 12th June 2012.

The Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) has been intervening in several ways to the flood affected families in Tana Delta and Magarini/Malindi, after they were displaced from their homes by ragging floods. Parts of the interventions include Health and Social Services with a component of Sexual Reproductive Health (SRH) in emergency. The operation, which was targeted to end on 9th June 2012, is still ongoing due as the displaced families are living in more than 20 camps, some of them having been displaced as early as April this year.