Influx of funding allows WFP to resume food aid in Kenya's refugee camps

The World Food Programme (WFP) has been able to resume providing full food rations to refugees in Kenya's Dadaab and Kakuma camps starting on April 1, thanks to new donor contributions, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters here Friday.

"This comes after more than a year of ration cuts," Dujarric said at a daily news briefing here.

"However, WFP stresses that the funding currently available for cash transfers, which make up 30 percent of the refugees' food assistance, will last only until May," the spokesman said.

Each month, WFP provides each refugee with a mix of food items -- cereals, pulses, vegetable oil, and nutrient-enriched flour -- and cash, sent through mobile telephones, allowing refugees to buy food products of their choice from local markets.

"We are pleased to announce that can resume full rations for the refugees thanks to new donor contributions," said Annalisa Conte, WFP's country director for Kenya. "However, we are urging our donors to continue making new resources available to enable us to carry on providing this much-needed food assistance for 420,000 people."

Dadaab is the world's largest refugee camp, which is located near Kenya's borders with Somalia, while Kakuma takes in mostly Sudanese refugees, bordering near South Sudan and Uganda. Both camps are run by the Kenyan government. Enditem