- Title: KENYA: USAID to assist famine victims, blames Somali rebels for their plight
- Date: 21st July 2011
- Summary: DADAAB, KENYA (JULY 20, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF NEWLY ARRIVING REFUGEES WAITING TO GET ACCESS TO DADAAB CAMP SCREENING AREA CHILD VARIOUS OF UNITED STATES AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (USAID)ADMINISTRATOR RAJ SHAH SPEAKING TO REFUGEES REFUGEES (SOUNDBITE) (English) USAID, ADMINISTRATOR RAJ SHAH, SAYING: "Today we're announcing an additional 28 million dollars of food assistance and support specifically for communities coming from drought affected areas in Somalia." YOUNG BOY EATING (SOUNDBITE) (English) USAID, ADMINISTRATOR RAJ SHAH, SAYING: "A big part of why we have a famine in very specific parts of Somalia today is because of al-Shabaab and an ineffective governance in Somalia and a lack of humanitarian access in precisely those parts. It's no accident that the specific geographies that have been declared by the international community as an official famine are those where humanitarian actors from all parts of the world say they have simply not been allowed to have access to the population." VARIOUS OF NEWLY ARRIVED REFUGEE DAHABU ABDULRAHMAN REGISTERING WITH DADAAB AUTHORITIES ABDULRAHMAN'S DAUGHTER (SOUNDBITE) (Somali) DAHABU ABDULRAHMAN, NEWLY ARRIVED REFUGEE, SAYING: "Our situation was very difficult. We were suffering from hunger, extreme hunger, famine." VARIOUS OF FOOD AND CLOTHES BEING GIVEN OUT VARIOUS OF UNITED STATES AMBASSADOR TO KENYA SCOTT GRATION BABY (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNITED STATES AMBASSADOR TO KENYA, SCOTT GRATION, SAYING: "It's more than just a humanitarian issue for them, and that's why we're working with them not only to solve the now humanitarian problem, but to find a solution which will allow these people to either return, be integrated or find resettlement." DADAAB IFO CAMP HOSPITAL EXTERIOR VARIOUS OF MALNOURISHED CHILD BEING FED WITH TUBE WOMAN GIVING CHILD WATER VARIOUS OF WOMAN FEEDING CHILD
- Embargoed: 5th August 2011 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Kenya, Kenya
- Country: Kenya
- Topics: Disasters
- Reuters ID: LVAGKZCHP35JPOJV3EZASLIFOFK
- Story Text: The United States Agency for International development (USAID) said it was set to release an additional sum of 28 million dollars to tackle what the United Nations has officially declared as a famine in parts of the Horn of Africa.
On a visit to Dadaab, the world's largest refugee camp in Kenya which has been receiving wave upon wave of Somalis suffering from malnutrition, USAID administrator Raj Shah said the sum would be provided to help camps such as Dadaab cope with the overwhelming influx of refugees.
"Today we're announcing an additional 28 million dollars of food assistance and support specifically for communities coming from drought affected areas in Somalia." said Shah.
On Wednesday (July 20) the United Nations officially declared famine in two regions of southern Somalia and said it could quickly spread unless donors took action.
Mark Bowden, humanitarian coordinator for Somalia, said southern Bakool and Lower Shabelle had been hit by the worst famine in the region for 20 years.
The U.N. said 3.7 million people across the war-ravaged Horn of Africa country, or almost half the population, were now in danger. Of them 2.8 million are in the south.
In the worst-affected areas, half the children are malnourished.
Years of drought, that have also affected Kenya and Ethiopia, have hit harvests and conflict has made it extremely difficult for agencies to operate and access communities in the south of the country.
USAID's Shah was quick to lay a big portion of the blame for the famine on Somalia's al-Shabaab militants who control the South of the country, and who up until July have had a ban on food aid in effect.
"A big part of why we have a famine in very specific parts of Somalia today is because of al-Shabaab and an ineffective governance in Somalia and a lack of humanitarian access in precisely those parts. It's no accident that the specific geographies that have been declared by the international community as an official famine are those where humanitarian actors from all parts of the world say they have simply not been allowed to have access to the population." said Shah.
USAID said it was ready to 'test' al-Shabaab's new initiative and said it remained 'cautiously optimistic'.
Nearly 135,000 Somalis have fled since January, mainly to Kenya and Ethiopia. An average of 1,700 and 1,300 Somalis, like 25 year old and mother of two Dahabu Abdulrahman are arriving in Ethiopia and Kenya respectively each day.
"Our situation was very difficult. We were suffering from hunger, extreme hunger, famine." said Abdulrahman.
With the staggering new arrivals on a daily basis, Dadaab, which has already exceeded its capacity, is struggling to cope. Fresh refugees generally settle in makeshift tents on unsecure grounds, and are often vulnerable to several dangers.
The Kenyan government is equally nervous about the situation. It says it has finally authorised the opening of a new extension in Dadaab which it had initially blocked for fear that it would be a magnet for even greater numbers of refugees.
Newly appointed US ambassador to Kenya Scott Gration said that the Kenyan government was seeking a lasting and comprehensive solution to the chronic problem.
"It's more than just a humanitarian issue for them, and that's why we're working with them not only to solve the now humanitarian problem, but to find a solution which will allow these people to either return, be integrated or find resettlement." said Gration.
The U.N. defines famine as at least 20 percent of households facing extreme food shortages, a crude mortality rate of more than 2 people per 10,000 per day and malnutrition rates of above 30 percent. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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