The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today's press briefing moderated by Nasser Ega-Musa, OIC/UNIC Nairobi.
Opening Remarks by Nasser Ega Musa
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Welcome to today's press briefings outlining the activities of the UN in Kenya and the assistance we are providing to affected areas and populations. Last week we held only one primarily because security issues prevented us from coming into the city center.
My colleagues are sitting there, ready to brief you as fully as we possibly can. I will introduce them from right to left which is also the order that they will all speak. Starting on my left, representing the UN humanitarian agency OCHA is Mr. Jens Laerke, next to him Mr. Emmanuel Nyabera from UNHCR, followed by Penny Ferguson of WFP and last but not least is UNICEF's Sarah Cameron.
As usual we will allow the colleagues to make their statements, and then at the end they will take your questions and answers. We'll try to respond to you as fully as we possibly can.
I am trying to remember if there is any outstanding question which was not answered from last time. I know the Standard had a couple of questions, but we answered them....about the environment, and also the question on UNAIDS was responded to.
Where there any other questions from the floor that we have totally ignored?
Okay let me call Jens up and he can brief you on some logistics, initiatives and other background information.
Remarks by UNOCHA
I would like to highlight three planned missions to the field headed by the Humanitarian Coordinator, who is also UN Resident Coordinator, Elizabeth Lwanga. She will go with a number of heads of UN agencies here from Nairobi to first Nakuru and Molo, that is tomorrow, on Wednesday to Mombasa, and Thursday to Eldoret and Kisumu. As you know, the security situation in especially Kisumu is very fragile, so that trip is subject to the security advice of the day. The objective of these visits is for the HC and the agencies to view the situation on the ground - for instance the coordination among the partners - and the impact the crisis has on people, so they will go out and talk to them. They will also look at possible gaps in the response and the issue of return and relocation of the displaced and observe tracking of people - that is a technical term simply for finding out where people are, where they come from and where they might be going. In Mombasa the mission will look particularly at the port and the capacity there. I also have printed off a map from ReliefWeb which gives a bird's eye view of the current displacement and the humanitarian response. You can pick it up here after the briefing. Thank you
Remarks by UNHCR
Thank you very much. All I am going to do is to give you an update of some of the distributions we have carried out. We work very close with the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) and the Kenyan government. We were concerned that with the rainy season some people would go without shelter, so we have been trying to put a lot of emphasis on distribution of plastic sheets. Yesterday, that was on Sunday, through the KRCS we managed to distribute 296 family kits to the IDPs in Jamhuri Park. Today we are going to deliver 400 more kite to the KRC for further distributions.. The kits contain plastic sheeting that we use for shelter, mosquito nets plus blankets and soaps. Then yesterday again we managed to transport to Eldoret 340 family kits and 10.000 sanitary materials. We have been told by colleagues on the ground in Rift Valley and Eldoret that there is a need to supply sanitary material to people who have been displaced in that area. On Thursday we flew from our stocks in Dubai a 100 tons of humanitarian supplies. The plan brought in 19.600 bales of plastic sheet for shelter, 40.000 mosquito nets and 15 generators. Again we are going to distribute them through the KRCS. Also we must remember that at the beginning of this humanitarian intervention, we managed to borrow supplies from Dadaab Refugee camps for distribution to different parts of Nairobi and Rift Valley. Part of the stock we got from Dubai will therefore go to replace what we borrowed from other stocks. Also, last week we delivered 1000 family kits to Nakuru. We are planning to start distributing kits through KRCS in different areas including Molo and Londiani.
Remarks by WFP
Hi, good morning, I will just give you a brief update on food distribution around Kenya to people affected by the current crisis. Around Eldoret we understand that the KRCS has reached some 132.000 people with distribution of food, including cereals from government stocks, and non cereal items such as beans or peas, vegetables, oil or colza from WFP stocks. Additionally, there have been distributions in cooperation with the Kenya Red Cross twice to people in the slums of Nairobi. The first distribution reached some 50.000 people, the second distribution on 15 and 16 January reached about 83.000 people in four slums districts: Kibera, Mathare, Dandora and Koragochi. The food distributed included peas or beans, WFP vegetable oil , high-energy biscuits, as well as cereals from government's stocks. Families most in need were identified in advance of the distribution by Church based groups and other partners working in the slums and they were given ration cards that they could show to collect a one-week ration based on a family size of six. Some of those people to whom we spoke at those distributions in the slums reported that their homes had been burnt, others had lost all of their possessions to looters, some were still camping away from their homes, some had just begun to return. Many were reported that they were finding it very difficult to earn their living. People who sold charcoal in small quantities to their neighbors in the slums reported that trucks that normally come to the slums to deliver their big stocks were not arriving or were reluctant to come. Vegetables sellers were also finding that it was hard to get back to their daily lives and people surrounding them just did not have money to buy. The same goes for women who wash, dress makers, people involved in these small livelihoods options who were finding it very difficult to feed their families. Additionally, WFP has supported KRCS food distributions in the Nakuru area and in Kisumu. Although exact figures of how many people have been reached by WFP food are still being compiled, we know that our food has already reached more than a quarter of a million people. This food has been borrowed from WFP existing stocks for its operations in Kenya, including an emergency operation targeting some 682.000 people still suffering from the effects of the 2005 drought and more than 1.100.000 children who normally receive school meals from WFP. It is vital that stocks borrowed from these operations can be replaced and it is vital that more funds arrive to allow WFP to continue deliver food to the people affected by post-election violence and also people in need who are served by our normal operations. And at the same time some costs are rising for example we have noticed that the tracking costs have risen to about 10% in the last month. Thank you.
Remarks by UNICEF
Good afternoon, just a brief update of the situation in Jamhuri. As we are speaking today there is a meeting underway with the government and the UN heads of agencies most involved in humanitarian response, where they will be discussing among other things the issue of the relocation or return of displaced families in Kenya. We will not have a particular statement on this until we know the outcome of the meeting. There have been various meetings underway this morning in Jamhuri and we understand that there will be a phased approach to the relocation or return of families that have sought shelter there. The DC is currently or will soon be making a statement to the media on this issue. I'll be happy to answer questions on the issue of Jamhuri from you.
Questions
Q1 The Standard - With regard to Kenya refugees in Uganda I would like to know whether they are willing to come back and how the relocation has been organized ?
Answer from UNHCR
The Office of the e Prime Minister in Uganda reports that around 6590 Kenyans have crossed into Uganda. They crossed from Malaba, Busia and Lwakhakha. In the past few weeks they have not seen significant movements of people who have crossed from Kenya to Uganda. Most of them have been hosted by local communities when a few thousands are staying in schools in Malaba and in Busia. We, together with the URCS are establishing a transit center in a place called Mulamba which is 35 km from the border and that's where all the registration is taking place. What we have been told by colleagues in Uganda is that these people have not moved further inside Uganda, which is an indication normally that maybe they are waiting to see how the situation is going to be in Kenya for them to come back. But as we speak they are getting support from Uganda government URCS and UNHCR is just filling up the gaps
Q2. The Standard - What supplies of food do you have now and what amount of food will you need?
Answer from WFP
Through the Humanitarian Emergency Response Plan, and the Flash appeal put together by the UN and other Agencies (WFP was part of that appeal), the total amount required for this crisis was 11.6 million. We have already received 3.3 million from the UN Emergency central response fund to which we are very grateful, so we need about another 8 million. Also we need funds for the purchase of food, for logistic stuff to assist WFP operations and other agencies and also for telecommunications for all agencies. Concerning the refugees, WFP food was also distributed on the border town of Busia on the 15 January to some 2000 Kenyan people who had crossed into Uganda.
Nasser: My colleague was referring to the recent UN Flash Appeal for 42 million dollars that was for Kenya humanitarian assistance. The 2000 she is referring to adds to the numbers and brings the refugees figures to around 6000. Do we have any numbers for Tanzania?
UNHCR: No
The Standard - My questions were: what are the feelings in terms of relocation? Are they willing to come back? For WFP: And how much food do you need? And when will they start moving them from the camps, to the relocated areas?
Answer from UNICEF
Yesterday there was a meeting of organisations involved in providing support to families and children in Jamhuri and we learned there that 200 of the families that are in Jamhuri there are immediately ready to leave the camp. In fact everybody wants to leave the camps, is just the conditions under which they are able to leave and the places that they are able to return and go to . Many did not want to return to Kibera but wanted to relocate to other areas of Nairobi, perhaps a few want to return to rural areas but the majority seems to want to remain in the city, but just perhaps in other locations and some want to return to Kibera if it is safe. There is a whole mix of this, I can recommend that you talk to people that are working in the camps, Dr Kechinga that is one of the leading counselors there will be an excellent person for you to talk to about attitudes and feelings of the people who are within the camp.
Answer from WFP
To give you an exact breakdown of what we have in stock and what is coming in and what's need for the different operations I would need to get back to my technical colleagues, it is quite complicated because the food basket is not just one commodity and the different foods for example vegetable and oil is distributed in quite a different quantity to the beans, grain etc. It is all balanced to give the people a basic ration that is equivalent to the minimum number of K calories per day need but to go back to all amount of the 5 commodities that we have bought in our warehouses and what's needed for the normal operations / has been used so far I would have to get back to you.
Nasser: As is tradition here, questions we are not able to answer right now we will get back to you tomorrow or even call you with the answer by telephone
Q.3 Associated press - Just to go back on the issue of Uganda, there were reports on problems of getting the required food, plastic sheets and so on, simply because the initial amount of people who crossed the border were few hundreds and now they are 6590. Are any of you agencies aware of this problem? And what are you doing to intervene? Has the situation changed during the week end?
Answer from UNHCR
According to the information we get from our colleagues in Uganda, from the URCS and the OPM, the situation is contained. We are working together with Red Cross, there were some gaps as I said, like some tents that were not there that ewe managed to bring from Kampala and we are putting together a transit centre that possibly we would be able to help. I would thus not say that at this point there is a serious crisis in Uganda vis-à-vis these refuges.
Q.4 from Reuters
I would like to know whether you have some analysis and the death toll and number of IDPs in Kenya
Answer from UNOCHA
The numbers the government uses are publicly available and you have them. They tend to change for various reasons; people are being registered in different locations and different times. As UN system we used the number 250.000 displaced who are in need of humanitarian assistance. This is not the number necessarily of people displaced today this is planning figure that we used since the onset of the crisis given that we do not only respond to what happens today but we will response projected to what we think will be the needs in one-two-three month time. So that's why we gatherer around the table and we came up with this figure. That figure was later mirrored in the first official figures of IDPs by the government which is 255000. The number of deaths you will have to get from the government, we do not count.
Nasser: this is a sovereign nation, the government is at the forefront, or the local NGO, the most prominent the Red Cross. We are just her to solidify and back up what the government and local NGOs are doing. SO those figures have to come from government and they are public figures so if you want death numbers you should contact the central police, who have a number that government endorses.
Q. 5 Reuters: Do you have a specific time Kofi Annan will be coming?
Nasser: From all the information we have, he is arriving tomorrow. I know that there are some reports saying that he will arrive today but we are not aware of it, neither is government, so we are expecting him tomorrow. We'll let you know. Most of you receive communications through our ... who will continue briefing you as to when and how and if he is available to the media.
Q.6 from Kenya News Agency - There have been reports that some of the donations were stolen or sold away from those affected. Could you please quantify this and specify what you are doing to deal with it?
Answer from UNICEF
I am not aware of these press reports. Only items we give to individual families are actually the family kits and I am not aware of them being stolen. They are distributed within the displaced camps and distributed in fact by KRCS, by NRC and other international NGOS. So we provide them but they are distributed by the agencies and I am not aware of any thefts
Q.7 from Kenya News Agency - To WFP I would like to ask whether there is discrimination when the food is distributed, that the victims are treated unequally. Can you confirm this?
Answer from WFP
There is no discrimination in the distribution of food. Food is distributed to people on the basis of need period. I am not aware of any reports of discrimination and food not being given equally, we would be interested in hearing more if you have reports of cases but our partners RC and people we have been working with in the ground have been extremely careful to make sure that nothing like that happens.
Nasser: same goes for items stolen, please if you have any information forward it to colleagues so that we can investigate on the issue
Q. 8 - Question from KTN - I have heard there are displaced people in the coast province, in Militoni, in Lamu district , do you have the report on displaced camps in the coast?
Answer from UNHCR
I think KRCS would be in a better position to reply to this question because the way we are working now is mainly through the KRCS. They just tell us where their needs are and then we respond. To be sincere I do not have response on that in terms of that particular location.
Q-9 Question from Early Metro - The people affected by violence were mostly farmers so do you foresee a situation were there will not be enough food for people in a few months?
Answer from WFP
Some of the areas that have been affected are among the most important maize producers of Kenya and the December-January period is an important time for the harvest. It is too early to tell right now. Our teams carrying out assessment on the ground have reported that of course people displaced are having trouble accessing their own food stores because they are having troubles returning to their farming places. Sometimes stores have been damaged or burnt. Over the coming weeks the situation will become clearer. If the troubles and violence continue there could be problems on the food supply side that will only become clear in time and we would hope peace will be restored quickly.
Early metro: The question is more: how is food security affected? Do you foresee food shortages?
Answer from WFP
Again, too early to tell, up until recently farm production has been continuing in these very fertile areas as normal. SO again I would have to say it is too early. Teams have done to do a very preliminary assessment of the people affected within the western central area but that information is being collated. Looking at food security situation would call fro a more exhaustive and extensive food security survey which cannot be done overnight. It is premature to speculate about that sort of impacts. In general in other areas where we have been working in our emergencies operations for example in arid lands hit by the droughts in 2005 of course there is still some 680000 people in need of food assistance because of that drought and we are investigating on how the short rain season has affected food security.
Closing remarks by Nasser Ega-Musa
My colleagues are available for one-one after this briefing. . Thank you very much, Ladies and gentlemen and we will let you know when the next press briefing will be, this time by emails.
Thank you.
Contact:
Nasser Ega-Musa/UNIC Nairobi
Tel: 254 735 232539
(Nasser.ega-musa@unon.org)
Jens Laerke/OCHA RO - CEA
Tel: 254 722 513503
(laerke@un.org)