Off the wire
• GLOBSEC forum to discuss Ukraine, Islamic State issues   • Urgent: Gold down on strong U.S. economic data  • Almost half of Austrian female workers working part-time  • Morocco raids Islamic State affiliate cell  • French president calls for universal social dialogue at ILO conference  • LME base metals close lower on Thursday  • Austrian population sees continued growth in 2014  • British FTSE 100 up 0.24 pct on Thursday  • Spanish stock market rises 0.53 pct, closes at 11,156 points  • Kenya to restrict Dadaab refugee movement over Al-Shabaab concerns  
You are here: 　 Home

WFP warns it may need to cut food rations in refugee camps in Kenya

Xinhua, June 12, 2015 Adjust font size:

The World Food Programme ( WFP) has warned that starting next Monday, half a million refugees in Dadaab and Kakuma camps in Kenya will receive 30 percent less food due to shortage of funds for relief operations, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters here Thursday.

"The agency is reducing the size of rations as the only way to make its supplies last longer," Dujarric said at a daily news briefing here. "It expects ration cuts to continue at least through September, unless new funds become available very quickly. "

WFP is currently struggling to raise 39.4 million U.S. dollars to cover shortfalls through January next year, of which 12.4 million dollars is urgently required to avoid a critical food gap in August and September.

"The agency continues to appeal to the international community to support its efforts," the spokesman said.

Last year in November, WFP was forced to cut rations by half, but new funding helped to reduce the size of the cut and eventually resume distribution of full rations.

Kakuma in the northwest and Dadaab, located in northeast Kenya, were both created in the early 1990s. The fund is needed to help the UN agency distribute 9,300 metric tonnes of food each month to 500,000 refugees in the camps -- most of whom come from Somalia and South Sudan. Endite