Boost For Refugees As Sweden, Finland Donate US$8M

Sweden donated 6.9M US Dollars while Finland donated the remaining 1.3M US Dollars to support refugees living in the refugee camps

The donation comes in handy at a time when some regions in the country have been hard hit by drought.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) welcomed the contributions saying it will go a long way in tackling drought

“Sweden is the world’s fourth largest humanitarian donor and we are happy to work with WFP to provide necessary food assistance to the refugees in Kenya. We are also concerned about environmental protection and our support therefore includes funding to fuel-efficient stoves for the refugees and the host community,” said Johan Borgstam, Swedish Ambassador to Kenya.

“The government of Finland firmly supports WFP’s efforts in the fight against hunger and will continue partnering with the organization in this noble mission,” said Sofie From-Emmesberger, Ambassador of Finland to Kenya.

The two countries contributed in response to a joint appeal for urgent donations to the refugee programme in Kenya made by WFP and UNHCR in November 2013.

WFP faced severe funding shortfalls that led to temporary cuts in food rations for the 480,000 refugees in Dadaab and Kakuma.

WFP Kenya Country Director Ronald Sibanda said the donations came in handy for the cash strapped organization

“Having been forced to reduce food rations for the refugees by 20 per cent in November and December, the generosity of Sweden, Finland and others who responded to our appeal meant WFP resumed full rations for the refugees in January,” said Sibanda

Besides providing food assistance to the refugees, the funding from Sweden will enable WFP to give fuel-efficient stoves to 3,500 families in Dadaab and Kakuma.

Wood is the main fuel for cooking in the camps and the stoves will help protect the environment through reducing wood consumption.

With 480,000 refugees in Dadaab and Kakuma, Kenya hosts one of the largest refugee populations in the world.

Since the outbreak of conflict in South Sudan in mid-December last year, Kakuma has received some 16,000 new arrivals. An average of 300 people, mostly women and children, arrive daily at the camp.

WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide.

On average, WFP reaches more than 90 million people with food assistance in 80 countries each year.

By Angel Mboya