OCHA Situation Report
Kenya
Report for March 2007
9 April 2007


Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

This report is based on information received from the UN agencies in 
Kenya, international NGOs, Kenya Red Cross Society and other 
Humanitarian agencies in the country.

1.0 The Humanitarian Situation

1.1 General Overview:

The situation in Mt. Elgon has become critical as regards humanitarian 
and protection needs. The Kenya Red Cross has registered 61,752 IDPs in 
the district even as there are reports of many more that remain 
unreachable. Access, due to poor roads and volatile security conditions, 
is the major constraint to the effective delivery of humanitarian 
relief. An expanded Disaster Management meeting between NGOs and the UN 
agencies agreed to build on the presence of the Kenya Red Cross to 
deliver emergency aid while various actors will engage with national and 
local authorities to address the underlying causes of the conflict.

An inter-agency assessment was conducted in 32 chronically food insecure 
districts to determine the sectoral impact of the recent short rains on 
household food security in Kenya. The assessment also focused on the 
geographic spread of the recent floods, its impact on livelihoods and 
suggested the kind of interventions in terms of both non-food and food 
for the period through to August 2007. It is apparent that food security 
indicators have improved dramatically in many areas which were affected 
by the drought of 2005-06. At the same time, the recovery from 
consecutive drought, floods and disease epidemics has not yet taken 
hold, especially in the northern pastoral districts. In other areas, the 
damage caused by the floods has not been fully addressed and even as the 
long rain season has already begun.

According to the Kenya Meteorological Department (KMD), the rain 
forecast for March to May 2007 will be near normal in many areas of the 
country, with a tendency towards erratic and below normal rains 
especially in NE and south-eastern lowland districts. Above normal rains 
are expected along the coastal strip but this could result in renewed 
flooding.

The RVF outbreak has been contained in NE province. Few reports of RVF 
cases have been reported in Machakos and Baringo districts where two 
were confirmed with one death in Machakos while the suspected cases in 
Baringo await confirmation. The second round of polio vaccination for 28 
districts was concluded on 23rd March 2007.

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