As Fighting Rages, Mercy Corps Helping War-Affected Communities on Somalia-Kenya Border
Source: Mercy Corps
Website: http://www.mercycorps.org
Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are the author's alone.
December 27, 2006
Contacts:
Jeremy Barnicle 1-503-367-7738
Cassandra Nelson, + 92-300-855-5646
*Agency providing shelter, water supplies in refugee-filled border town*
NAIROBI, Kenya - Mercy Corps, a global humanitarian agency, is distributing shelter and water supplies to thousands of people in flood- and war-affected communities along the Somalia-Kenya border this week.
For months, Somali refugees have been streaming into towns on the Kenya side of the border as they fled economic hardship and civil conflict. Their humanitarian needs - and those of the communities hosting them - were compounded when massive flooding earlier this month destroyed homes, crops, and livestock.
"The flooding has left these communities in an extremely vulnerable state," said Richard Jacquot, Mercy Corps' emergency response manager in the town of Liboi, where the agency is distributing emergency supplies. "And if the fighting across the border continues, we will likely see thousands of refugees arriving in towns like this with nothing."
The agency's initial response is targeting approximately 10,000 people in communities around Liboi.
As fighting for control of Somalia between the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and the Council of Somali Islamic Courts (COSIC) intensifies, Mercy Corps and its colleague agencies are preparing for major refugee flows. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that as many as 250,000 Somalis could flee to Kenya because of the fighting.
Jacquot said Mercy Corps chose to operate in Liboi not only to serve the town's immediate flood-related needs, but also because it would be a key processing point for thousands of incoming Somali refugees should fighting continue.
A presence in Liboi also positions Mercy Corps to support economic development programs on the other side of the border in Somalia.
"Even if a broader war does not break out, people in southern Somalia are facing intense economic hardship, and we plan to help them build up their livelihoods so they have the option of remaining in their home communities," Jacquot said.
Mercy Corps has worked in East Africa since 1985 and its current regional operation includes programs in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, and Uganda.
HOW TO HELP:
Online: www.mercycorps.org
Phone: 1-800-852-2100
Mail:
Mercy Corps, Kenya/Somalia crisis,
Dept NR,
PO Box 2669,
Portland OR 97208
Mercy Corps works amid disasters, conflicts, chronic poverty and instability to unleash the potential of people who can win against impossible odds. Since 1979, Mercy Corps has provided $1 billion in assistance to people in 82 nations. Supported by headquarters offices in North America, Europe, and Asia, the agency's unified global programs employ more than 3,000 staff worldwide and reach more than 10 million people in more than 35 countries. Over the last five years, more than 90 percent of the agency's resources have been allocated directly to programs that help people in need. For more information, visit
www.mercycorps.org.
# # #
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
