The Federation's mission is to improve the lives of vulnerable people by mobilizing the power of humanity. It is the world's largest humanitarian organization and its millions of volunteers are active in 185 countries.
Period covered by this Operations Update No 5: 1 January to 30 June 2008
Appeal target: CHF 9.65 million (USD 7.97 million or EUR 5.88 million)
Appeal coverage: 105%
Appeal history:
- Preliminary Emergency Appeal launched on 17 November 2006 for CHF 9,848,235 (USD 7,864,934 or EUR 6,157,653) for 6 months to assist 300,000 people.
- Revised Emergency Appeal launched on 7 December 2006 for CHF 26,352,005 (USD 21,832,647 or EUR 16,563,171) to assist 563,000 people for 4 months.
- Operations Update No 4 reduced the appeal budget from CHF 26.35 million to CHF 9.65 million (USD 7.97 million or EUR 5.88 million) and extended the time frame for an additional 12 months (up to 7 April 2008), to assist 189,535 people.
- This Operations Update extends the time frame for an additional 14 months (up to 8 June 2009), to enable the National Society complete post floods recovery operation.
- Disaster Relief Emergency Funds (DREF) allocated: CHF 750,000 (USD 630,000 or EUR 470,000)
Summary: The Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS), through the support of the International Federation and other partners have been working towards restoring the livelihoods of the people affected by the 2006 drought and floods in Mandera and Wajir districts. The National Society has been assuring sustainable access to safe water and adequate sanitation, as well as improving the capacity of Red Cross branches and community members in disaster preparedness and response.
To ensure completion of the recovery programme, the appeal timeframe is being extended by 12 months (up to 8 June 2009) to enable KRCS to implement the activities prioritized for the recovery phase. The programme is covered under relief and livelihoods, emergency health and care as well as water and sanitation (WatSan). New objectives and expected results have been set inline with the available funds.
According to an Interim Final Report that was issued on 31 August 2007, the Kenya Red Cross Society requested to have the balance of CHF 640,476 (USD 531,957 or EUR 388,167) transferred from the drought operation (MDRKE001) to the ongoing floods operation (MDRKE003). This transfer has since been granted.
The situation
Heavy downpours were experienced in parts of Kenya at the beginning of October 2006, leading to heavy flooding. A total of 34 lives were lost and an estimated 723,000 people affected, including about 60,000 others in Isiolo, Garissa, Turkana, Lodwar, Moyale, Wajir, Mandera and Kisumu. The rains caused severe destruction to the infrastructure. Bridges were washed away and roads linking towns were cut off making transportation/access complicated for commuters and traders. Many commuters were stranded for days without food. Reports indicated that the main livelihoods in the affected areas (farming, livestock and fishery) were highly affected by the flooding. Crops were damaged and some motorized irrigation pumps and irrigation infrastructures were reported to be destroyed or washed away.
The extremely high amount of rainfall led to excess amounts of water at Kenya's hydro-electric dams, resulting in an overspill that led to the flooding of the entire Tana River flood plain and triggering the displacement of hundreds of communities on both sides of the river. This exacerbated the already precarious situation of the vulnerable communities.
The humanitarian situation unfolded in a region that is among the least developed in the country and has been suffering successive droughts over the past decade thereby further weakening the ability of the local communities to withstand disasters. The coping mechanisms of the affected communities has already been exhausted and the floods emergency was an unusual occurrence as the region is arid and is usually a drought prone area.
In response, the Kenya Red Cross Society has made several interventions that ranged from livestock off take, restocking, drilling of boreholes, and construction of earth pans in many parts of Mandera and Wajir districts. The National Society has also been undertaking drought recovery projects aimed at helping communities recover from the effects of the drought and floods as well as contribute to risk reduction activities that aim to strengthen resilience of communities against future disasters. This is in collaboration with the International Federation as well as other Movement partners including the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as well as the Swedish, Norwegian, Netherlands, American, British, Finnish, French, Irish and Japanese Red Cross societies. Other partners include the World Food Programme (WFP), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Médecins Sans Frontiers (MSF) and CARE International among other Non-governmental organizations (NGOs).