Stakeholders meet to discuss the impacts of drought

Turkana, Wednesday, April 19, 2023

KNA by Peter Gitonga

UNICEF Representative to Kenya, Shaheen Nilofer, has said that it will take at least one year for families to recover their lost livelihoods and for the nutrition situation of children to stabilize due to drought. 

Nilofer was speaking in Lodwar during a round table of stakeholders involved in drought response, who included four governors from Northern Kenya, representatives from the State Department of ASALs, and heads of development corporations.

"I would urge international donors to continue this life-saving support until we have built long-term resilience and all children in Kenya are out of the danger zone," she said. 

Stakeholders involved in drought response agreed, to strengthen co-ordination in response to the current drought and programs, to help affected communities recover.

Governor Jeremiah Lomorukai hosted Governors, Simon Kachapin (West Pokot), Benjamin Chesire Cheboi (Baringo), and Jonathan Lelelit (Samburu), as well as development partners, led by United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Representative to Kenya, Shaheen Nilofer.

In his address, Governor Lomorukai, provided an update on the ongoing relief efforts by the County Government and appealed for support to fill gaps in the response.

“In the First Phase of relief distribution, we distributed a total of 5,770 metric tonnes of relief food, benefiting approximately 664,824 residents. In the Second Phase, we intend to distribute 2,600 metric tonnes of assorted food to a targeted population of 695,232 people, which translates to 115,872 households,” he said.

Earlier in the day, the delegates visited the Lodwar County Referral Hospital, where they observed the treatment of children with malnutrition, including the Stabilization Centre for severely malnourished children and the outpatient service for those in recovery.

They also visited a solar-powered water system at Natiir village, which provides safe water for a primary school, dispensary, and the local community. 

Another team visited the integrated outreach site at Nakadukui village where health workers provide nutrition screening of children, health supplies, and other services for people living far from health care facilities.

The Governor thanked UNICEF, other UN agencies, and donor countries for their support in nutrition, food, water, health, and education.

Secretary Ministry of East Africa Community (EAC) and ASALs, and Regional Development, Maria Kipkenei Cherono, who represented Cabinet Secretary (CS), Rebecca Miano, read the CS's speech.

In her speech, Miano commended counties and development partners for their collaboration, to address drought and implement programs.

She stated that the National Government had prioritized water development to address the shortage of water for domestic use, livestock, and irrigation.

The CS said drought interventions need to be integrated and multi-sectoral, and nexus to be put on the humanitarian and development approach.

Governor Lelelit urged partners to support counties in the recovery efforts, in the short term and to help build the resilience of communities, in the long term.

Governor Kachapin appreciated the support from donor organizations and admitted that great progress had been made through implementing programs in the counties. 

“Governments alone cannot solve all our problems, where we receive insufficient rainfall. As we find short-term solutions, it is possible to make ASALs areas self-sufficient,” he said, adding that the drought had contributed to the insecurity situation in the North rift.

Governor Cheboi, called on all stakeholders to work together with governments, to avoid project duplication.

Others who present included County Assembly Speaker Christopher Nakuleu, National Drought Management Authority Chief Executive Officer Lt Col (Rtd) Hared Hassan Adan, Netherlands Embassy Regional Humanitarian Coordinator Rineke van Dam, Korea International Co-operation Agency Country Director, Dr Jang Hee, Swedish Head of Co-operation, Annika Ottesrtedt and UK High Commission Humanitarian Adviser, David Kinyua.

Senior County Government officials present in the roundtable included County Secretary Peter Eripete, County Attorney, Erastus Ethekon, and County Executives, Peter Akono, James Wangiros, Dr Iris Mariao, Dr Anthony Apalia and David Erukudi.

Courtesy K.N.A