UNICEF begins relief efforts in North-Eastern Kenya

Nairobi, 04 Nov-(ANA)-The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is leading UN relief efforts in north-eastern Kenya, where recent torrential rainfall has brought flooding at the same time as much of the rest of the country endures a prolonged drought.

UNICEF is working with Kenya’s Red Cross Society and local authorities to chlorinate wells contaminated with flood water in the El Wak area of Mandera district, close to the border with Somalia, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

About 4,600 Kenyans living in the northeast and along the Indian Ocean coast have been displaced from their homes and forced to live with host families or in schools.

Fears are mounting that the wider Horn of Africa region could experience devastating floods in the next few months as the El Niño weather phenomenon takes effect, with heavy rains expected to peak this month across the region.

OCHA said as many as 750,000 people may eventually be affected by floods and landslides from the current rainy season.(ANA)

FA/ANA/04 November 2009----