By KUNA
Geneva : The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said Tuesday that it is providing relief supplies to tens of thousands of Kenyans displaced by the recent turmoil in the country. According to UNHCR spokesperson Ron Redmond his agency is making available immediate non-food aid materials for up to 100,000 people. “We have supplies for 50,000 people in our Nairobi warehouse and will bring in additional items from UNHCR’s regional emergency stockpiles,” he said. Redmond stressed that Kenya provides a vital lifeline for the flow of aid supplies to our refugee camps in the country, as well as to UNHCR-assisted refugee populations in Southern Sudan, Somalia, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda. “It is imperative that safe and unhindered access to needy populations be maintained,” he stressed. International Organization for Migration (IOM) spokesperson Jemini Pandya said that about 2,000 housing plots will have been prepared by IOM and the Kenya Red Cross by today at a site which will provide essential shelter to thousands of Kenyans in Eldoret in Rift Valley Province, the area worst affected by the recent violence.
“With an estimated 120,000 people internally displaced (IDPs) in Eldoret Municipality, 42,000 of whom are in 37 centers in and around Eldoret, shelter, food, water and sanitation are key needs,” she said. Pandya added that the dispersal of IDPs far and wide across the municipality is also hampering effective delivery of humanitarian assistance.
She added that the establishment of the site by IOM and the Kenya Red Cross at the Eldoret ASK Show Ground will allow these and other humanitarian organizations to better assist the IDPs over the coming weeks.
“Although the housing sites already prepared will shelter 10,000 people, the site will eventually accommodate 30,000 IDPs,” she added.