Attachments
KEY DEVELOPMENTS
· On December 15, the U.N. and the Government of Kenya (GoK) launched the 2012 Kenya Emergency Humanitarian Response Plan (EHRP), requesting $763.8 million—a 3 percent increase from the 2011 EHRP request—to address the emergency needs of 4.4 million people. Since the beginning of December, the U.N. has launched 2012 Consolidated Appeals for Kenya, Somalia, and Djibouti. The three 2012 appeals request approximately $2.37 billion, a 20 percent increase from the 2011 funding request, to address humanitarian needs in the three countries and build resilience to disasters during 2012.
· According to the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), insecurity continues in and around the Dadaab refugee camp complex, with explosions reported at the Hagadera camp on December 19 and near the market at the Ifo camp on December 20. Humanitarian operations in Dadaab—where nearly 464,000 refugees resided as of December 14—remain limited to the provision of essential services, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
· As of December 16, the GoK military initiative in southern Somalia continued, with reports indicating that the GoK plans to integrate troops into African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) forces. OCHA reports that the U.N. Secretary General requested to increase AMISOM troop levels for the peacekeeping mission in Somalia from the current 9,000 troops to 12,000 troops.
· On December 22, U.S. President Barack Obama announced that the U.S. Government (USG) is providing an additional $113 million in humanitarian assistance to Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia, bringing total USG humanitarian assistance to the region to more than $870 million in FY 2011 and FY 2012 to date. The additional assistance includes funding from USAID’s Office of Food for Peace (USAID/FFP) to provide food assistance for refugees and drought-affected populations in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Somalia. The U.S. Department of State Bureau for Population, Refugees and Migration (State/PRM) is providing additional assistance for refugees in Ethiopia and Kenya. As of December 22, the majority of FY 2011 USAID Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA)-, USAID/FFP-, and State/PRM-funded humanitarian assistance activities remain ongoing.