This small, remote border town is rapidly becoming one of the focal points of the drought emergency in the Horn of Africa. Two thousand or so Somali refugees who are now arriving here each day from across the border are forcing a long-running refugee assistance operation to be ramped up to deal w...

To support the aid work of the German Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW) the ZKI produced maps of the Dolo Ado region showing the refugee camps along the Genale river between Dolo Ado and Bokol Mayo in Ethiopia.

DADAAB, Kenya, August 10 (UNHCR) – Her right leg is twisted outward at a 45-degree angle just below the kneecap. And when Bishara Hassan Hussein steps forward with her baby wrapped against her body, it seems as though she has a branch sticking out from her body. The leg throbs with a constant pain, ...

MOGADISHU, Somalia, August 18 (UNHCR) – Kadija is in shock. Over the past two weeks, the 32-year-old Somali has lost her livelihood, fled her rural home and ended up in a dismal settlement in one of the most dangerous cities on earth. "I don't have my own house and my children can't go out and pl...

An assessment of mortality in one of four refugee camps at the Dollo Ado complex in Ethiopia has found that death rates have reached alarming levels among new arrivals. Since the Kobe refugee camp opened in June, an average of 10 children under the age of five have died every day. While malnutrit...

On 11 August Kakuma was inundated with torrential rains which caused flooding in various parts of the camp and surrounding areas. Many refugee shelters were destroyed and dykes and river banks were severely eroded in a number of locations placing refugees and humanitarian workers at risk. A vehicl...

On 17 August UNHCR Kakuma hosted a visit by Mr. Allan Torrie, president and CEO of Morneau Shepell, a Canadian human resource consulting company which is emerging as one of Kakuma's primary private donors. Morneau Shepell is currently funding the construction of a Community Technology Access Centre...

Planning is underway for a mission by UNHCR colleagues in early October to undertake an assessment of the environmental situation in the Turkana region of Kenya with the aim of developing a long-term strategy for mainstreaming climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction into UNHCR operatio...

In Ethiopia, a large scale effort has meanwhile been underway to address the high mortality rates among new arrivals from Somalia. Malnutrition remains the leading cause of death but the situation is being compounded by suspected measles and other diseases. Children under the age of five, already...

In Kenya, UNHCR began populating yesterday (Thursday, 18 August) a new part of the Dadaab refugee complex to provide shelter for tens of thousands of new Somali refugees and to ease the chronic overcrowding of the existing camps - namely Dagahaley, Ifo and Hagadera. The first group to occupy ten...