Volunteerforafrica (VFA) ::: Fighting poverty & disease in Africa

Kenya is in the throes of a humanitarian “national disaster” after post-election violence that has left scores dead, hundreds of thousands displaced beyond reach of immediate assistance and many more destined to be dependent on aid for several months to come.
The country has been riddled with insecurity over the last few days and there are many areas that cannot be accessed.
An official government statement carried by local media estimated that there are 300,000 displaced people countrywide.
Most of the displaced have no access to food, water, health services or shelter

Situation Overview

1. The security situation in most parts of the country has improved slightly, though displacements continue. Nakuru, Naivasha, Kuresoi, Mau summit, Molo and parts of the Rift Valley and Nairobi and its surroundings have all seen further displacements in the recent weeks.

2. Access to the affected populations continues to be a challenge due to security reasons and population movements.

5. The Kenya Red Cross reports that over 300,000 people are displaced in 296 camps countrywide. Tens of thousands more people are housed with families. Over 1,000 people have now been killed in the violence.

6. The prevention of further displacement; insecurity within and surrounding IDP sites especially smaller remote sites; the need to maintain humanitarian access; and the involvement of children and adolescents in the violence remain priority areas of concern. There are reports of sexual exploitation occurring, particularly of young girls, forced to exchange sex for food, money or other necessities.

9. With the violence affecting agriculture and markets, there is reduced staple food output from Kenya's grain basket region of North Rift. This may worsen the country's food security situation later in the year and early 2009. Furthermore, with existing livelihoods affected there is a risk that food secure households become chronically food insecure.

11. The health delivery system is minimally functional especially at the district level because staff have abandoned their posts as a result of insecurity.

12. HIV/AIDS, Gender, GBV and Early Recovery are being mainstreamed across the clusters, with focal points assigned to all relevant clusters.

13. In many districts, schools have not been fully reopened, and enrolment is limited. The actual total number of schools that have been burned, looted or in need of rehabilitation remains unknown. Many schools are intact but the psychosocial needs of teachers and students need to be considered. Threats have been made against the opening of schools as they are 'government' institutions. The crisis is having a national impact outside of the impact area. Teachers are returning from their teaching posts in other areas, classes are untaught and many teachers are requesting to be transferred to areas they felt secure.

14. The logistics situation remains very unpredictable and security continues to be the biggest challenge. This has made the movement of all commodities from Nairobi to storage and distribution points particularly difficult. Drivers feel at risk when entering areas of conflict and owners are reluctant to commit assets while the situation continues to be so changeable. The entire sector from Nairobi to Kisumu, Busia, Malaba and Kitale presents problems.

15. The export of fuel to neighbouring countries has been severely disrupted currently at 75% of pre-violence levels. The greatest impact is from the Nakuru depot. All trucks are now departing with protected convoys. The Logistics Cluster is exploring contingency routes to Uganda, Rwanda, DRC and South Sudan via Tanzania if the current transport security issues persist.