NAIROBI, May 1 (Xinhua) — United Nations Special Humanitarian Envoy Kjell Magne Bondevik has warned that humanitarian crisis in Kenya could deepen as he started a visit to the drought-hit east Africa nation.
Bondevik, on a week-long mission to the drought-stricken region, made his comments in Nairobi on Monday as he continued his tour of drought-affected countries in the Horn of Africa.
According to the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), food insecurity in Kenya, where 3.5 million people need emergency assistance, remains severe in pastoral areas where the majority of those most affected are living.
Bondevik noted that the situation is aggravated by underlying factors such as poverty, development, environmental degradation and marginalization.
“Assets and livelihoods have already been lost and levels of vulnerability remain critically high,” he warned.
In Mandera district in the north, acute malnutrition in children has been recorded and high losses of livestock reported.
“While the rainy season has been good so far in drought affected areas, floods have destroyed crops, homes and infrastructure. The rains have also brought with them the added threat of water-borne disease and sanitation concerns, in some areas deepening the humanitarian crisis,” he said.
Earlier in February, following a two-day visit to Kenya in his first role as the UN special humanitarian envoy, Bondevik highlighted the need to ensure integrated long-term strategic approaches with the current crisis response, aimed at breaking the cycle of vulnerability and livelihood insecurity.
On Sunday, Bondevik was briefed by the UN Regional Support Office for Central and East Africa.
He traveled to Baidoa and Wajid in Somalia on Monday with donors and UN representatives to see local aid projects such as a therapeutic feeding center which treats malnourished children, an internally displaced persons (IDPs) camp, and water projects.
He will also meet government authorities and community elders.
On Tuesday, the final day of his eight-day mission, he will meet with donors, NGOs and regional partners in Kenya, including the UN Country Team for Kenya and the Inter-Agency Standing Committee for Somalia.
The UN launched a regional appeal for the Horn of Africa earlier this month, requesting 443 million U.S. dollars to support the urgent needs of more than 8 million people. To date, the appeal has received pledges and contributions of 95 million dollars.
Several years of successive rainfall failures and the concomitant rapid erosion of assets and livelihoods have left the people in parts of the five countries to suffer from water shortages and declining access to food, according to the OCHA. Enditem
Source: Xinhua, May 1, 2006
