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Kenya 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 Nairobi, 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 Moyale 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 Wajir 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 Marsabit 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 Mandera 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.