Humanitarian Update

Overview

October 2002 enya’s Parliament was dissolved on Octo- learning in all public schools for three weeks ended ber 25, 2002 to pave way for the General a day before national examinations kicked off K Elections on December 27. The presiden- (October 21) allowing student to sit for their exami- tial, parliamentary and civic elections will take nations. place simultaneously on the same day. The Electoral On Disaster Preparedness, the United Nations Commission has said Presidential nominations Inter-Agency Secretariat of the International Strat- should be completed by November 18 and party egy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) has established a nominations for parliamentary seats by November. regional outreach programme in Africa based Nai- 24. This year’s elections will take place in one day, as opposed to the 1997 elections when they were robi, Kenya with effect from October 1, this year. Humanitarian Update held over a period of 2 days and the new parliament At the same time, Kenya is among ten countries that is published by the is expected to have its first session in February. will benefit from a project initiated by the Interna- Disaster , Prevention, This year, the country will choose a new tional Federation and the United Nations Environ- Management and president following 24 years of President Daniel ment Programme to reduce the impact of natural Coordination Unit arap Moi at the helm. So far four presidential candi- under the UN Kenya disasters in Africa. Kenya is experiencing a weather dates have been nominated by various political par- phenomenon of two extremities; drought and heavy Resident Coordinator ties to vie for presidency. Office, UN Complex, The elections will be held under the old rainfall resulting in flooding. At least five people Block Q, Gigiri, Constitution following the dissolution of the Eighth drowned and 3,000 were left homeless when floods , Kenya. Parliament before the Constitution of Kenya Review swept through their settlement in Tana River near Commission (CKRC) convened the National Con- the Indian Ocean. The flooding was caused by the stitutional Conference. Members of Parliament were collapse of the walls of a dam next to a settlement to constitute a third of conference participants. after a heavy downpour. This is in stark contrast to CKRC has since suspended indefinitely the confer- the arid zones of Kenya where dry conditions have ence meant to analyse the draft presented by the CKRC. persisted and all water pans have dried up except for There are conflicting reports over the a few dams in Ijara and districts. In some status of the CKRC following the dissolution of isolated cases water has to be transported by trucks. Parliament and the subsequent postponement of the The dry conditions have adverse effects on people Conference. The Head of State insists that the and livestock. CKRC was disbanded alongside other committees Public Health Minister has appealed to set up by the just dissolved Parliament. The CKRC Kenyans to change their sexual behaviour as a Inside this issue: and the Attorney General on the other hand insist measure of wading off Aids infection because the that the Commission was protected because it was Kenya Government can not afford to raise the Health 2 set up by an Act of Parliament. So far 20 political Sh18bn annually required to purchase anti-retroviral parties have committed themselves to complete the Nutrition 2 drugs to manage the more than two million people constitutional review process should they form the cases of AIDS in the country. Food security 2 next government. UNICEF spearheaded national Measles Meanwhile the UN Disaster Prevention, Man- Livestock 3 immunisation campaign reached 13.5 million chil- agement and Co-ordination Unit has hired a consult- dren aged 14 years and below representing 93.4 per UN Day 3 ant to ascertain the number of internally displaced cent of the targeted population, Kenya UNICEF persons in Kenya and their living conditions. Security 4 country office says. The teachers nationwide strike that paralysed Coordination 4 Refugees 5 El Niño Update Water 5 he updated climate weather outlook by the northern Kenya, southern Somalia, northern Uganda Early Warning 6 T Drought Monitoring Centre, Nairobi (DMC-N) and southern Sudan. The remaining areas are ex- indicates wetter than normal rainfall conditions for pected to have slightly below normal rainfall per- Education 6 the eastern Africa coastal strip of Kenya and Soma- formance. However, in general there is a potential FGM 6 lia, the agricultural areas of western Kenya, Uganda for negative and adverse impacts of heavy rainfall and southern and central Sudan. Other areas ex- such as flooding and an increase in waterborne dis- Floods 7 pected to receive above-normal rains are the central eases like malaria. On the other hand, the wetter IDPs 7 Ethiopian highlands and central and northern Soma- than normal conditions guarantee replenishment of lia. Near normal rainfall performance is expected to water resources and improved forage and crop con- Preparedness 8 occur over the predominantly pastoral areas of ditions especially for marginal rainfall areas. Calendar 8 Measles vaccine costs only $0.89

ealth and Education ministries 77% of the children who were never immunization coverage should be Health H with the support of partners vaccinated received the measles sustained at above 90 per cent. (UNICEF, WHO, American Red vaccine during the campaign and that it Ministry of Health in Cross, Kenya Red Cross, United Na- costs only $. 89 to deliver measles collaboration with partners is initiating tions Foundation ) spearheaded na- vaccine through campaign for each activities on community Integrated tional Measles immunisation campaign child. Also there was no significant Management of Childhood Illness reaching 13.5 million children aged 14 difference between rural and urban (IMCI) which aims at promoting years and below representing 93.4 per areas in the number of children availed family practices that impact on child cent of the targeted population. for vaccination during the campaign health. Verification of the results Going by the success of the These practices are sixteen it costs only $. 89 showed that it was less than the 97% initiative, it was recommended that the in total and grouped in four broad areas to deliver measles initially reported. This was the biggest campaign should be repeated in 2 to 3 follows; 1)Growth promotion and de- vaccine through Measles immunization campaign in years to all children aged five years velopment 2)Home management of campaign for Africa. Included in the campaign, were and below as a safety net to cover childhood illnesses 3)Care seeking Polio vaccination in 14 districts, mater- those who may not have received the behaviour and compliance and 4) each child. nal Tetanus in 3 districts and Vitamin vaccine. Disease prevention. A nationally. The survey revealed that Ideally targeted routine

Anti-retroviral too expensive-Minister ublic Health Minister says the Permanent Secretary said the Min- other sources. The remaining $300 P Kenya Government requires istry of Health would approach the million each year is urgently Sh18bn annually to purchase anti- World Bank and International needed if the targets are to be met retroviral drugs to manage more Monetary Fund (IMF) for funding by 2005. WHO's World Health than two million people suffering to enable them to employ more Assembly has set global targets of from AIDS. personnel. detecting 70 per cent of TB pa- The Minister said the He said the country had tients and successfully curing 85 drugs were too expensive and the a lot of qualified but unemployed per cent of these patients by government could not raise the people and paramedics could not 2005. required money. He asked Ken- get jobs because of an induced The Kenya Government yans to change their behaviour in freeze on their employment by the and WHO have dismissed a report order to curb further spread of the two Bretton Woods institutions. appearing in a section of the press disease. The minister said prevent- Experts working with as false and alarmist. The report able diseases such as AIDS and World Health Organisation alleged that 100 people died of a malaria continue to be the major (WHO) estimate that the annual Hepatitis B outbreak in Dis- causes of death in the country. total cost for TB control world- trict (Northern Kenya) yet investi- At the same time, the wide is $1.2 billion. Three quar- gations revealed that there was no country is facing an acute shortage ters of that total is already cov- such epidemic. of medical personnel. The Health ered by countries, donors and Nutrition Survey in Nutrition Nutrition survey was carried UNICEF, through an ing out activities to enhance water A out by UNICEF in co- OFDA grant, provided a major and sanitation facilities in Elwak operation with Ministry of Health part of the funding; additional and nutrition surveillance that and Food for the Hungry Interna- funding came from Kenya’s Office started in September 2002. tional (FHI) in Marsabit. of UNICEF field nutritionist pro- Results for September Two 30 by 30 cluster vided technical support. Results are already out while those for surveys were undertaken, one in from the survey will be available October are expected next week. the pastoral areas and the other in in next month’s update. Action Funding is being solicited for the the agro-pastoral areas. Against Hunger (AAH-K) is carry- nutrition surveillance project. NGOs to improve food security in ix non-governmental organisations are seeking funding for a three years project to enhance food security in Mandera Food security S District. The project will cover water and sanitation, income generating activities, health, livestock and surveillance sectors with an overall objective of increasing food security in the district and decreasing malnutrition and mortality rates. The project is to be implemented by Action Against Hunger UK, Medicins Sans Frontieres Spain, Norwegian People's Aid, Oxfam Quebec, Progressive Interventions and Veterinaires Sans Fronterieres Suisse. The proposed interventions are based on the Mandera District Strategic Development Plan. The plan was developed by the District Steering Group on the basis of a multi-sectoral/multi-agency assessment carried out last year. The strategy has been designed in the framework of the phasing out of the general food distribution and in order to propel the district from emergency into sustainable recovery. Each of the NGO will work on their professional and geographical areas of expertise. (For more information please contact [email protected]) Meanwhile, the Ministry of Agriculture has confirmed that its estimate of 1.89 million metric tonnes of maize will be achieved in the absence of any unexpected adverse event such as excess rainfall at harvest. The Kenya Vulnerability Update, says because the estimate is 13 per cent below the decade average of 2.18 million metric tonnes, domestic maize availability will be influenced by the short rains (October to February) crop production. Additional, though moderate rains would likely have a positive impact on the yields.

Page 2 Kenya Humanitarian Update Baringo famine reports

Livestock report is being awaited to The report will be gener- A advise development agencies ated by the District Steering Group driven to neighbouring West on the extent of drought in Bar- (DSG) and a drought monitoring Pokot, Turkana and Samburu dis- ingo and West Pokot. A group of unit. Famine Early Warning Sy s- tricts in search of pasture. The six agencies held a meeting on 22 tems satellite images and rainfall report claimed that more than 800 Oct to deliberate on the course of data shows that the area is experi- cows, goats and sheep are said to action following media reports that encing very dry conditions. have died due to drought in the about 100,000 people faced starva- According to the media past month. In addition, an out- tion due to the prevailing adverse reports appearing in the Nation on break of malaria is said to have hit weather conditions. 17 October, livestock is being the constituency. Less water and browse in dry weather

howers in parts of Samburu, browse grounds are fully depleted prices of livestock have depreci- S Moyale, /Ijara and in the semi-dry grazing areas. The ated due to more animals being Moyale districts, offered a wel- distance between the water sources presented to the market for sale come relief in this arid region but and areas with forage have in- and their poor body condition. the amount and distribution was creased forcing livestock to trek Meanwhile the Kenya not enough to improve either the long distances thereby affecting Government was urged to exploit Household milk water or the forage situation. their body condition. Vulnerable the potential of camel rearing for availability has All water pans have livestock include lactating and better food security in the arid declined compared dried up except for a few dams in young animals. area. A university lecturer said the to the previous Ijara and Moyale districts. There Household milk avail- country has 750,000 camels pro- month as a result are areas facing acute water short- ability has declined compared to ducing 120 million litres of milk ages in parts of Garissa and Sam- the previous month as a result of of low milk and about 25 million kilos of meat production due to buru districts necessitating truck- low milk production due to the dry annually. the dry season ing of water to several settlements. season and transfer of livestock to and transfer of The major sources of water for the dry season grazing areas which He said though the Mid- livestock to the dry both domestic and livestock uses are far from the settlements. Food dle East provide a good market for season grazing remained the boreholes, hand dug insecurity was unusually high in camel meat, exporting of un- areas which are wells, permanent rivers and river the cropping areas of Moyale, slaughtered camels denied Kenya far from the wells. Samburu and Turkana following much needed revenue. He noted Forage and browse re- exceptionally poor rainfall during settlements that camel hooves, hides and mained favourable in most of the the 2002 long-rains season. The districts especially in the dry sea- situation was exacerbated by live- bones could be used to produce son grazing areas with the excep- stock raids in Turkana , and other goods for the Kenyan market tion of parts West Pokot, Baringo, West Pokot in September. and for export, adding that there is Marakwet and Keiyo districts and The pastoralists are sell- need to boost existing camel some localised areas where ing more livestock to get money to breeds. drought conditions have persisted buy cereals. In return, the prices of through out the 2002 long rains cereals have appreciated and the season. In most cases, grazing and Poverty reduction and food security: UN Day theme in Kenya.

UN Day he United Nations system in shrubs with mango and paw paw Mr M’eruaki initiatives T Kenya marked the UN Day plants. In addition, he helped to have been replicated in Tanzania and (October 24) in pomp and colour. train some 6,000 farmers on seed South Africa. His project operates The climax of the celebration was propagation, and topworking. To- under the Catholic Dioceses of marked through presentation of an day, the farmers not only produce Embu and the UN World Food Pro- award to a Kenyan, Mr Joseph seedlings for their farms but also gramme. The projects were designed M’eruaki, for his contributions in sell the surplus to generate in- to help hard-hit communities to pro- poverty eradication and enhance- come. gress from emergency food handouts ment of food security in the coun- Five years after he to self reliance. try. started the project, the area has Also honoured were It is the first time that become a mass producer of man- members of the Mukuru Recycling the UN system in Kenya has col- goes and paw paw, opening mar- Project who received certificates for lectively honoured an individual as keting opportunities. He has recycling water and Mr David Mbiti part of its celebrations of the UN trained farmers on bee keeping who was recognised for promoting Day. He is credited with turning a and honey harvesting and created agro-forestry in his Makueni barren land in Eastern Province seed banks for use in times of District. into a productive area replacing shortages created by drought..

October 2002 Page 3 Government orders disarming of home guards

Security urkana District (North-western Kenya) has experi- injured in the attacks. The area police boss was di- T enced hostilities from communities in neighbour- rected to co-ordinate the repossession of arms, which ing countries and local communities resulting in loss of should be completed in two weeks. The leaders re- life on all sides. solved to have police officers stationed at the border The UN Security Update reported that the transferred on suspicion that they assisted the raiders Turkana launched a revenge raid against the Merrile to sell the stolen animals. Two night buses were am- across the border in Ethiopia. They reputedly killed 85 bushed by a heavily armed ten-man gang in Kuria people and destroyed homesteads. Like the Merrile raid District (south- western Kenya) on 19th. Six people against the Turkana in early October, which prompted were reportedly wounded by gunshots fired indis- this attack, no livestock were reportedly stolen. The criminately by the gang. They robbed the occupants attack on the Turkana left 22 people dead. and beat them up. Kuria district borders Tanzania. The Toposa of southern Sudan raided Tur- Meanwhile, the South Nyanza branch of kana homesteads and stole a large herd of cattle. The the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) questioned the sin- Turkana recovered the stolen herd in a counter-raid. On cerity of the government's efforts to end the tribal October 6, a number of Turkana warriors raided the skirmishes. The LSK charged that the clashes were Dongiro villages around Kibish on the southern Sudan instigated by some leaders from the region. They said border. An unknown number of cattle were stolen and the Kisii and the Maasai communities coexisted five Dongiro and one Turkana were reportedly killed. peacefully "before a clique of elected leaders, bent on The Turkana District KANU chairman and clinging to power by evoking tribal emotions among former MP, Mr Josephat Ekidor fell victim to bandits the people, started the conflict.'' when he was shot dead by four armed men near Loki- At least three people from the Borana char town. He was an aspirant for the Turkana North Community have been killed and three others injured parliamentary seat in the forthcoming general elections. in a cattle raid in Isiolo District. Isiolo police boss The late Ekidor was travelling with seven other people the police have smashed said the number of fatalities among the raiders could a gun manufacturing in his vehicle to Nairobi for KANU presidential nomi- not be immediately established in the incident in racket in Nairobi. The nations at Kasarani. The case is being investigated. The which 800 heads of cattle were stolen. A combined guns were being Turkana Peace and Development Committee is holding force of regular, administration police and home manufactured in meetings to address the deteriorating security situation guards pursued the raiders and recovered 750 ani- makeshift markets in faced by some of the remote homesteads and villages. mals. Nairobi and sold to Elsewhere, four people were shot dead by criminals. armed bandits who raided a manyatta (village) in Sam- Meanwhile the police have smashed a gun buru District. The Local District Commissioner (DC) manufacturing racket in Nairobi. The guns were be- said the bandits struck Parikati Location in kill- ing manufactured in makeshift factories in Nairobi ing the four and seriously injuring three others. and sold to criminals. The police have arrested two Meanwhile, four other people were killed and welders believed to be the racket masterminds and 12 several others injured in the ongoing wave fighting on of their customers had also been arrested. The racket- the Gucha-Transmara border (south-western Kenya). In eers have been unable to manufacture bullets but use one incident, three people died in skirmishes just hours modified bullets. before a team of the Law Society of Kenya toured the In another unrelated incident, three people border to collect views on the causes and possible solu- were killed in and Othaya (central tions to the clashes. A man was shot dead and several Kenya), said to have been orchestrated by members others injured in another incident on the border. The of the outlawed Mungiki sect. Two of the victims injured were rushed to Kisii District Hospital with bul- were reportedly killed during a confrontation in Nya- lets lodged in their bodies. The victims were alleged hururu, after the sect members demanded extra "cess" shot by General Service Unit (GSU) personnel called in payment from potato traders and matatus (commuter to restore peace after an attack by Maasai warriors. minibuses). The third was hacked to death when All firearms assigned to home guards in the about 100 Mungiki members who had gone to collect strife torn region will be repossessed due to the security a body of a colleague from the Provincial Gen- officials complicity in cattle rustling, a peace meeting eral Hospital Mortuary went on the rampage, beating addressed by the Transmara District Commissioner everyone in sight and damaging vehicles. (DC) and Kuria DC resolved. Since August close to 300 heads of cattle have been stolen, and several people Information tracking system project

Coordination he Resident Coordinator’s office is working on multi-agency project tracking system in order to improve T inter-agency collaboration and to build institutional memories to improve programming. Its first project will involve documenting and profiling all programmes implemented by UN since it was established in Kenya close to 40 years ago. A consultant hired by the UNDP to help to formulate a tax policy for expatriates working in Kenya is will present his report in the first week of November.

Page 4 Kenya Humanitarian Update Cash strapped UNHCR receives a donation

Refugees nited Nations High Commis- Nairobi. The safe house was oper- diate, medium and long term de- U sion for Refugees (UNHCR) ated with collaboration with velopment activities in the refugee Goodwill Ambassador Angelina GOAL - an Irish non- hosting communities. The purpose Jolie donated US $ 200,000 to governmental organisation. Some of the visit was to come up with UNHCR Kenya during her October 40 out of the 200 refugees stating projects which would reduce ten- visit to the country. Some US at the centre were transferred to sion and hostilities between the $50,000 will be used to put up a new Dadaab and Kakuma camps in refugees and host communities. school for girls at the Kakuma Refu- northern Kenya. The mission identified the follow- gee Camp. The repatriation of ing as priority areas; Water for The actress appealed to the Ugandan combatants from Kenya sanitation and irrigation (food se- international community not to for- will begin soon after the comple- curity); development and nurturing get the rights and needs of young tion of their registration. IOM has of small enterprise through train- refugee girls, particularly their right received funding from OFDA for ing and credit; sustainable use of to an education saying that girls had the operation. The combatants environment; education through to confront many other barriers in have been in the country since provision of facilities, bursaries order to receive a decent education. early 2000 and their status has especially for the girl child. However, Jolie expressed been problematic because they are Other areas included her concern about a projected short- not recognized as refugees and improvement of health facilities, fall in UNHCR’s 2002 budget of they were not receiving any hu- infrastructure especially the some US 20 $ million. “Most of the manitarian assistance. Marich – Road and elec- UNHCR (Kenya) people here are already living on the A mission with repre- trification of urbanized centres as bare minimum – any budget cut sentatives from the Government, well as improvement of security remains optimistic means a life,” she said. UNDP, UN Disaster Prevention, for the host communities. A me- donors would make UNHCR (Kenya) remains Management and Coordination dium to long term proposal will be optimistic donors would make Unit and UNHCR early this month developed and shared with devel- pledges to bridge the pledges to bridge the funding short- visited Kakuma to appraise imme- opment partners. funding shortfall for fall for the fourth quarter of the year within the coming week. The the fourth quarter of spokesman said the Dutch govern- the year ment, Norwegian and German gov- ernments had indicated that they would support the organisation. The UNHCR has an- nounced that a severe funding short- fall was threatening its operations worldwide. The agency said it needs at least US $80 million to enable it to maintain "minimum standards" for refugees worldwide. Africa would be most affected by budget cuts. In Kenya, UNHCR has been forced to "scale down" operations at its main Actress Angelina Jolie joins a group of refugees in a song during her visit. Picture by UNHCR accommodation facility in the capital Environment conservation in exchange for water Water our communities on the Kenya (EACBBP), and implemented by the $8,000 to rehabilitate and protect a spring F and Tanzania border are going Ministry of Environment and Natural and a well, in a forest of important biodi- into a partnership under which their Resources under UNDP (K) manage- versity resources, for human and live- capacity to protect the forest and to ment. It will bring clean water to the stock use. use it sustainably will be increased Lomeyan cluster consisting of Apart from provision of clean with support of UNDP. From their Lomeyan, Nachuro and Kapus located drinking water, the project hopes to in- end members of the local communi- on the foothills of Loim a forests in duce reduction of tree felling in forest, ties will enter into social contracts (Turkana), Sagahasa Vighombonyi reduction of grazing in gazetted forests, that will commit them to ensure that area falling in parts of the eastern arc control of forest fires, patrolling forests they reduce practices that degrade mountain system. The broad objective and guarding it, and general protection the forests in return to protection of is to provide water for communities in since the communities will have stronger spring heads, installation of water return for their social commitments to ties with the forests because they can link pumps for clean drinking water. conserve critical biodiversity sites it with water provision. This illustrates The communities have further or- across the East African cross borders. that development projects can compli- ganized themselves into conserva- The communities live in semi-arid ment the humanitarian assistance initia- tion committees to achieve conser- region where water scarcity is of pri- tives of relief organizations. This kind of vation objectives mary concern. linkage further enhances sustainability of The project, costing US This project borrows from both development and relief interven- $250,000, is funded by the East the success of the EACBBP facilitated tions. (for more information please con- African Cross-Border Project Chawia Mworoko community of Taita tact, [email protected]) hills forests where the project injected

October 2002 Page 5 Soil experts recommend farmers transfer

Early warning Soil experts have recommended five family members - an elderly ject, ITDG mobilized both com- that about 70 Murang'a [central couple, two munities to create awareness about Kenya] families move from a daughters and a grandson - per- the importance of the intervention. mudslide-prone area. They say the ished when their house was de- It made it mandatory for the two families in Tuthu, where five peo- stroyed by a landslide. Four others communities to provide manpower A water project ple died in a mudslide early this escaped death narrowly. (Source: for the dam construction. The ef- year, should be moved to avert Daily Nation 7 Oct 02) forts culminated in the formation spearheaded by further loss of lives. A water project spear- of a water user association with the Intermediate Alternatively, the ex- headed by the Intermediate Tech- equal representation from both perts' special report recommends nology Development Group groups. It is now registered with Technology that strong iron bars be used to (ITDG) has succeeded in main- 308 members. Development reinforce "houses with concrete taining a truce between two Ken- Due to the peace prevail- foundation". Local District Com- yan neighbouring communities ing in the area and availability of Group (ITDG) has missioner said that geologists had that have been fighting over scarce personnel, the project comprising succeeded in declared the area "unfit for human resources in Baragoi Division, of three dams, will be completed habitation". There are big cracks Samburu District (central Kenya). in three months instead of the pro- maintaining a on the ground in the village on the The project was funded jected five months. The women truce between two slopes of the Aberdares. by ECHO through CORDAID from the two communities were The experts, the DC dis- Regional office in Nairobi involved in various aspects of the Kenyan closed, had also proposed that only under the Emergency Drought and constructions including representa- neighbouring eucalyptus trees Recovery programme. The inter- tion in the management committee should be planted in the region vention was first of its kind in the An indirect achieve- communities because "their roots go deep into area. The extent of peace restora- ment, yet perhaps the most impor- the ground" and could, therefore, tion is marked by the fact that tant , is that peace has prevailed hold the soil together. The trees members of each community can between the two communities ever also could not "easily give way" now venture into areas occupied since the onset of this project. during a mudslide. "Those experts by the other without raising suspi- (For more information, please said that the area should not have cions. Previously, tension could contact [email protected]) any other type of trees," said the erupt at the slightest provocation. DC. Before starting the pro- On the night of 3 April, Teachers break strike ment to start implementing a Pokot has been closed after it Education The nationwide teachers strike that paralysed learning in all public stalled salary increment, that was came to an end. Discussions are schools ended a day before na- at the centre of the dispute, on ongoing with the Federation to tional examinations kicked off July 1, 2003. The Kenya Certifi- take over the project to rehabilitate (October 21). Since then, the sec- cate of Primary Education begins Secondary Schools in which locals ondary school examination have on November 11. have expressed interest. The previ- been going on peacefully after The ICRC Schools’ re- ous project was limited to Primary teachers accepted a return to work habilitation project (implemented Schools. formular that allowed the Govern- by American Red Cross) in West Painless passage rite for girls

FGM Thirty five girls from Enosaaen, male genital mutilation. Some of the challenges encountered Isampin, Olomismis, Osinoni and On the last day, the girls in trying to stop girl circumcision Mapashi locations have opted to graduated in a colourful ceremony are; some parents refuse to pay abandon female genital cut for a presided over by the area District school fees for girls shunning the painless and educative rite of pas- Commissioner. The DC warned practice, girl child education is not sage into adulthood. The girls re- that he would ensure that any par- highly valued and prevalence of ceived information on Children’s ent forcing underage daughters to early marriages. Act, HIV/AIDS, decision making, be circumcised or married would be The circumcision season in interpersonal communication, girl apprehended and prosecuted under the district begins in October to child education, relationships and the Children’s Act. He observed December. To ensure that the girls dating, teenage pregnancy, human that in his one and a half year ten- do not succumb to peer pressure, anatomy & physiology, harmful ure in the district, many girls had the project will organize a reinforce- effects of female circumcision, the sought assistance from his office. ment meeting for them in Novem- rights of a child and personal hy- The graduation was co- ber. In Kenya, close to six million giene. The project is co-sponsored financed by the German Technical women between 18 and 49 years by the Ministry of Health and the Cooperation (GTZ) and Austrian were subjected to the female cut. German Technical Cooperation Embassy and took place at Eno- (GTZ) and aims at eliminating fe- saaen Market on September 1, 2002.

Page 6 Kenya Humanitarian Update Floods wreak havoc in Tana River basin

Floods loods waters killed five peo- could be given in the form of tools lief and Rehabilitation Office in F ple and one person went and toilet slab. CARE has agreed the Office of the President has missing after Tuesday (October to provide the digging tools. sent 13.5metric tons and 65 met- 26) night flooding in Tana River ric tones of beans and maize re- near the Indian Ocean. The flood- It was estimated that close to 400 goats and cattle spectively and 50 cartons of oil. ing was caused by the collapse of drowned and household goods of The commodities will be distrib- the walls of a dam next to a settle- unknown value were destroyed in uted between the Madogo, ment after a heavy downpour. the tragedy that rocked the resi- Garsen and Msumarini affected The Madogo District dents of Bulla El Niño settlement communities. Officer said the bodies had been in Madogo Division. The dam is The Meteorological recovered. said to have been constructed by a Department has warned that Confusion reigned at the local non-governmental organisa- coastal areas and parts of West- rescue site after the raging floods tion in a bid to bring water closer ern Kenya, near Lake Victoria, washed partially decomposed bod- to the people. The floods came are likely to receive above aver- ies buried recently at an adjacent barely six months after the long age rainfall due the existence of Muslim graveyard away. Volun- rains floods when the locals were El Niño conditions in the Pacific teers dug a mass grave to rebury flushed out of their homes by the and Indian Ocean. In May a total the body parts. advancing waters. of 46 people died and more than The floods displaced 150,000 were displaced and 3,000 people. This population has The Kenya Red Cross, thousands of acres of crops de- to be moved to a safe area as the which is leading other relief agen- stroyed by water and homes ma- rains are just beginning. Tempo- cies in providing humanitarian rooned or destroyed by floods rary accommodation was offered assistance, has sent a relief con- water and landslides during the at the social hall, the mosque and signment to the flood affected peo- heavy rains. the secondary school. Representa- ple in Tana River. It contains The short rains that tives from CARE, Red Cross, 1,035 blankets and 400 tarpaulins. usually last between October and Catholic Diocese of Garissa, UNI- A contribution from UNICEF of February have started in some CEF and Government officials Chlorine tablets for water purifica- parts of the country. In Nairobi, drew up a contingency plan that tion, 10 toilet slabs, one Cholera (Kenya’s capital) the rains will see them moved to a site that Kit for the hospital in Garissa and started in the third week of the was identified for their relocation 400 cartons of high energy biscuits month. but will require certain services were also sent in the consignment like water and toilets. The commu- sent by the Red Cross. The Gov- nity will dig the pits while support ernment of Kenya through the Re- Kenya hosts 220,000 internally displaced persons

IDPs he Kenya Jesuit Refugee titles to land was an obstacle in 220,000 Kenyans are living un- T Service (JRS) has called for attempts by some displaced people der temporary arrangements, the return of about 220,000 inter- to return to the areas they occupied having fled their homes as a The report nally displaced persons in Kenya before the clashes. result of conflict and natural estimates that to their homes. The NGO says that The Commission, led by disasters, though not all associ- those displaced from their farms Justice Akilano Akiwumi, was ated with the 1992 and 1997 about 300,000 during the tribal clashes prior to appointed by Kenyan President elections the 1992 and 1997 general elec- Daniel arap Moi in July 1998, and To counter the in- people became tions should be assisted to resettle handed in the report to the presi- criminating report, the Govern- internally back on their farms and appropri- dent in 1999. ment released its own document, ate security arrangements made for making comments on the Com- displaced at the their peaceful stay. estimate mission's findings. In it, the The JRS comments were government says the 'Akiwumi' height of the contained in the Judicial Commis- The government with- report is biased against the tribal clashes. sion Appointed to Inquire into held the document, despite calls Kalenjin and Maasai ethnic Tribal Clashes in Kenya report from civil society groups that it groups, and ignores the role released recently. Land ownership release it. It was released after a played by other groups such as and use was cited as the primary court in ruled that it be the Kikuyu, Kenya's most pop u- source of violence. availed for possible use as evi- lous tribe. dence in a compensation suit Meanwhile the UN report brought by a Kenyan farmer Disaster Prevention, Manage- against the government. ment and Co-ordination Unit The report estimates that has hired a consultant to ascer- The report recommends about 300,000 people became in- tain the number and living con- that the government issue land title ternally displaced at the height of ditions of internally displaced documents because lack of legal the tribal clashes. Today, some persons in Kenya.

October 2002 Page 7 Disaster preparedness: Africa Outreach Office established

he United Nations Inter-Agency with recent deliberations in Johannes- cretariat is working on the development of T Secretariat of the International burg during the World Summit on Sus- a joint regional strategy with UNDP, Strategy for Disaster Reduction tainable Development and the resulting which will also locate its Regional Disas- (ISDR) has established a regional plan of implementation that emphasised ter Reduction Advisor in Nairobi in Janu- links between sustainable development outreach programme in Africa based and disaster risk. ary 2003. Similar arrangements of col- in Nairobi, Kenya with effect from The Africa ISDR outreach laboration are being established with the October 1, this year. programme will strengthen the global United Nations Environmental Pro- The main function of the effort towards greater coordination, gramme (UNEP). Such modalities will be ISDR regional outreach for Africa is advocacy and information exchange in gradually extended to other partners in to promote inter-agency collaboration relation to disaster reduction and bring Africa. to strengthen capacities in Africa to the objectives of ISDR closer to the A national workshop on capac- engage in disaster reduction and risk concerns of African countries. Close management and assessment, through collaboration and joint planning will ity building on disaster management was improved networking, knowledge and take place with relevant UN organiza- held in the last week of October in Nai- information management and public tions in the region. robi. There will be more workshops at the information activities. This is in line In particular, the ISDR Se- provinces and community level. Upcoming events

KFSM: JICC November 28, 28 Floor at 10.00 KFSSG: November 19th, KICC 28th Floor 10.00 WESCOORD: November 13th, 8th Floor KICC at 10 am Health and Nutrition; November 18th in UNICEF KCO, Room D-225 at 10:00 am. UN Days 16 November International Day for Tolerance 21 November World Television Day 25 November International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women

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The purpose of the UN Disaster Prevention, Management and Co-ordination Unit (DPMCU) is to enhance, support, and service a coordinated and coherent response amongst all partners to any kind of emergency situation, natural or man made (disasters or conflicts) in Kenya; improve the early warning mechanisms and information management systems; participate in regular monitoring of vulnerability and strengthen preparedness and response capacities amongst all partners. It also facilitates mobilisation of national and international resources.

CONTRIBUTORS: UNICEF (K), KFSG, KFSSG, Health and Nutrition Coordination Committee, WESCOORD, WFP (K), DMC, FEWSNET, UNHCR, ALRMP, FAO, IRIN, RC (Kenya), AAH-K, WV, Church World Service, Refugee Consortium of Kenya, IOM, UNHCR,GTZ,UN Security Update,, Daily Nation and East African Standard newspapers

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