NCA sends aid to Kenya's flood victims
Source: Norwegian Church Aid - Norway
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As the international conference on climate change draws to a close in Nairobi, Kenya today, the situation is critical for refugees in
northeast Kenya. At the UN's request, Norwegian Church Aid is sending a water expert to the Dadaab area.
"This is a sad illustration of the consequences that climate change can have for the world's poor," says Atle Sommerfeldt, general secretary of Norwegian Church Aid.
The roads in the flooded region are blocked, and Norwegian Church Aid has been forced to fly into the region. Before the floods came, Norwegian Church Aid was in the process of sending a mobile drilling rig into the region to provide water for refugee camps in cooperation with UNICEF.
But now, the situation has changed dramatically after a period of heavy rain; it is now proving extremely difficult to transport the rig into the area as the roads are disintegrating. Another solution must therefore be found to provide water for the refugees, such as purification of surface water. Norwegian Church Aid has a number of water purification units in storage, and is ready to send this equipment to the region.
Kim Rudolf-Lund will fly to Kenya this weekend where he will join three other experts and depart on an assessment mission to the Dadaab area in northeast Kenya on Monday. This assessment will be carried out in cooperation with the UK's Christian Aid.
Together with the UN and partner organisations, Norwegian Church Aid will also consider whether three refugee camps housing a total of 160,000 refugees will need to be relocated, or if entirely new camps will need to be established to cater for the stream of new refugees that continue to cross the border from Somalia.
Refugee camps are always very vulnerable to flooding, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reports that at least 78,000 people have been forced to flee their temporary housing in this week's flood. Water is still rising in the Somalian camps in eastern Kenya, and hundreds of homes have already been destroyed.
There is also a danger that flooding will occur in Somalia. In the country's southern regions, many thousands of people have been forced to flee rising water levels and at least 20 people have been found dead.
For more information, contact:
"This is a sad illustration of the consequences that climate change can have for the world's poor," says Atle Sommerfeldt, general secretary of Norwegian Church Aid.
The roads in the flooded region are blocked, and Norwegian Church Aid has been forced to fly into the region. Before the floods came, Norwegian Church Aid was in the process of sending a mobile drilling rig into the region to provide water for refugee camps in cooperation with UNICEF.
But now, the situation has changed dramatically after a period of heavy rain; it is now proving extremely difficult to transport the rig into the area as the roads are disintegrating. Another solution must therefore be found to provide water for the refugees, such as purification of surface water. Norwegian Church Aid has a number of water purification units in storage, and is ready to send this equipment to the region.
Kim Rudolf-Lund will fly to Kenya this weekend where he will join three other experts and depart on an assessment mission to the Dadaab area in northeast Kenya on Monday. This assessment will be carried out in cooperation with the UK's Christian Aid.
Together with the UN and partner organisations, Norwegian Church Aid will also consider whether three refugee camps housing a total of 160,000 refugees will need to be relocated, or if entirely new camps will need to be established to cater for the stream of new refugees that continue to cross the border from Somalia.
Refugee camps are always very vulnerable to flooding, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reports that at least 78,000 people have been forced to flee their temporary housing in this week's flood. Water is still rising in the Somalian camps in eastern Kenya, and hundreds of homes have already been destroyed.
There is also a danger that flooding will occur in Somalia. In the country's southern regions, many thousands of people have been forced to flee rising water levels and at least 20 people have been found dead.
For more information, contact:
- Atle Sommerfeldt, General secretary, Norwegian Church Aid, tel.: (+47)917 55 112
- Kim Rudolph-Lund, water engineer, tel.: (+47) 930 54 452
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