UNICEF and the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees have issued separate aid appeals for the millions of people affected by one of the worst droughts to hit East African countries in years.
UNHCR has appealed for $163.3 million to assist up to 90,000 new Somali refugees in Ethiopia and continue supporting those living in camps in Kenya and Djibouti. Hundreds of thousands of Somalis are fleeing their country to escape the violence and drought there.
UNICEF, meanwhile, is asking for $32 million, which it said would allow it to help millions of women and children in Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti.
Ongoing humanitarian response
Several donors have started mobilizing financial and in-kind assistance for drought victims in the region. Sweden announced a 30 million Swedish kronor ($4.7 million) contribution to UNHCR, primarily for its work with Somali refugees in Kenya and Ethiopia.
>> East African Drought Attracts Donors’ Attention, Prompts Somali Insurgents to Lift Aid Groups Ban
The United States, meantime, has deployed a disaster assistance response team, based in Kenya and Ethiopia, to help UNICEF, the World Food Program and other aid agencies there coordinate emergency aid operations.
Aid groups and international charities have also stepped up their humanitarian response, with the International Medical Corps expanding its programs in East Africa and deploying an emergency response team in Somalia. Medecins Sans Frontieres has stepped up its therapeutic feeding programs and other activities in the region, while Oxfam International has launched a cash-for-work program in Kenya, along with four other international non-governmental organizations. Oxfam has issued an aid appeal to support its response to the East African drought.
>> International NGOs Appeal for Emergency Aid for Drought-hit East Africa
Some U.S.-based international organizations, meantime, have also issued their own aid appeals and outlined their action plans to help address and mitigate the impact of the drought, which the United Nations said could affect up to 10 million people.
The Disasters Emergency Committee, an umbrella group of U.K. aid agencies responding to disasters abroad, also launched an aid appeal June 9.
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