With famine declared in five parts of southern Somalia, severe
drought in Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti, coupled with an
unrelenting influx of refugees and high prices of basic food
commodities in the region, IOM is urgently appealing to the donor
community for US$ 26.6 million as part of a massive humanitarian
operation being carried out in the Horn of Africa.

The funding will be used in priority to develop in close
coordination with host governments, UNHCR and UNICEF, an emergency
network to provide vital transportation assistance to vulnerable
people from border regions and informal settlements to organized
camps inside Kenya and Ethiopia. IOM will ensure medical screening
and referral services are systematically provided to address the
needs of the most vulnerable, especially women, children and the
sick.

IOM will also work with government counterparts and humanitarian
partners to identify and address unmet needs in the provision of
shelter, Non Food Items (NFIs), medical assistance and
community-based livelihood programmes for both displaced and host
communities.

"IOM is deeply concerned at the plight of the more than 12
million people who are gravely affected by the drought and the
famine in the Horn of Africa," says IOM’s Director-General,
William Swing. "We stand ready to increase our support and work as
one with our governmental and humanitarian partners to respond to
the critical needs of those affected by this disaster of epic
proportion."

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target="_blank" title="">IOM Response and Appeal

In north-eastern Kenya, IOM plans to extend transportation
assistance to vulnerable Somalis who regularly arrive after a long
and dangerous trek from the South Central regions of Gedo, Lower
and middle Shabelle.

Unable to walk the remaining 90 kilometres from the Liboi/Dobley
border area crossing to Dadaab camp, many exhausted and dehydrated
women, children, elderly and sick individuals risk being left
behind.

Since 1 August, at the request of the local Kenyan authorities
and in coordination with UN partners, IOM assisted 204 vulnerable
individuals, mostly women and children, who were stranded in the
middle of nowhere in the extreme heat of the semi-desert region,
with no water or food.

In neighbouring Ethiopia, IOM has started to provide
transportation assistance to Somalis from the border area transit
camps to Dolo Ado and to the main camps of Bokolmanyo, Melkedia and
Holweyn, some 35 kilometres away.

IOM has also been tasked by UNHCR to relocate refugee family
members between camps as part of a family re-unification process.
To date, IOM has assisted a total of 328 refugees, including 133
family reunification cases. Additional funding would allow IOM to
increase its capacity to provide assistance to up to 74,000 newly
arrived Somalis.

Drawing from its expertise in the provision of emergency
shelter, IOM plans to use the funds to provide safe and dignified
shelter to refugees living in the Dadaab camp outskirts and to
provide shelter assistance to those relocated to the nearby Ifo
extension site.

Another area of IOM intervention is the provision of emergency
livestock support to drought-affected communities in north eastern
Kenya. These are mostly pastoralist communities who are suffering
from the extreme effects of drought, yet are sharing their scant
resources with large numbers of Somalis who continue to arrive
daily.

The funds will be used to rehabilitate water retention
structures and wells along livestock migratory routes and re-stock
drought affected communities with camels, which are more resistant
to drought and diseases. Community training for herders on pasture
storage, conservation and use will also take place.

As part of the appeal, IOM is asking for a funding to the tune
of USD 180,000 to provide emergency transport and medical
assistance to 4200 Somalis who had entered Djibouti on foot fleeing
from famine and draught.

With more than 500 staff in 16 locations across the Horn of
Africa, IOM is well placed to support and supplement the efforts
deployed by governments and humanitarian actors to alleviate the
plight of drought affected communities.

For further information, please contact:

Jeff Labovitz

IOM Geneva

Tel: +41 22 717 93 28

Email: "mailto:jlabovitz@iom.int">jlabovitz@iom.int

or

Patricia Reber

Tel: +41 22 71794 63

Email: "mailto:preber@iom.int">preber@iom.int