Overall Situation:
Following the conclusion of the voting exercise and declaration of results, a return to normal in business activities and traffic congestion was observed across the county. The 5th president of Kenya, William Ruto was inaugurated on September 13, 2022 and will begin working with his new government over the next five years.
Terrorism: The Somali-based, al-Qaida-affiliated Islamist militant group al-Shabaab issued a new threat against neighboring Kenya. The group said it would continue its attacks in Kenya if Kenyan troops were in Somalia. The group said that it will continue to target Kenyan towns and cities until Kenyan troops are out of Somalia. It said that if the Kenyan government continues to maintain its “invasion” of Muslim land it will continue to strike inside Kenya.
The security in IRC operating areas remained stable with no major events noted that impacted humanitarian activities.
Nairobi: Level-2-Yellow:
The security situation in Nairobi metropolitan region reported relatively calm during the month of August.
The increased political activity during the national elections period consequently resulted in a rise in opportunistic crime by assailants– mostly armed with bladed weapons- who attacked and robbed civilians as they left rally grounds.
Kakuma and Turkana: Level 3-Orange medium:
The general security situation in Kakuma humanitarian operations and the entire Turkana County remained stable. Operations in all IRC facilities/dispensaries remained open and ongoing.
Safety and Security:
A total of six significant incidents were recorded in Turkana South Turkana East and Turkana west sub-counties which included; a fatal shooting of four bandits in Turkana South, a road side armed robbery incident that involved a humanitarian agency staff in Turkana South, an armed robbery incident that targeted three businessmen at Lokichar trading Centre in Turkana South, while in Turkana East, one case of arson and a road traffic accident incident.
Kakuma refugee camp, and Kalobeyei settlement remained stable with 95 incidents of common crime noted amongst Pocs and few locals around the camps in contrast to 103 cases reported during the previously month. The reported incidents in the camp did not impact Kakuma humanitarian operations including IRC staff safety & program activities.
Weather:
Kakuma refugee operations and the environs witnessed moderate rainfall during the period under review. The weather conditions remain generally hot.
During the month of August, Kenyans went for a general election to elect leaders in the 6 elective posts from the president to the member of county assembly. The presidential election results were declared, and Kenya Kwanza presidential candidate, William Ruto was declared the winner with 50.49%.
The announcement of William Ruto as the President-Elect split the electoral body, with four of the seven commissioners disowning and questioning the credibility of the results. Azimio la Umoja Presidential candidate Raila Odinga's team also claimed the presidential poll results verification process was flawed.
A petition was filed in the supreme court by Presidential Candidate Raila Odinga seeking to challenge the results declared by the electoral body. On the fifth of September, the Supreme Court however upheld the election terming it as free, fair, credible and transparent.
William Ruto was declared the winner and sworn in on September 13th, 2022.
The drought situation continued to worsen in 20 of the 23 Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASAL) counties. This is attributed to the poor performance of the 2021 Long rains coupled with previous three failed consecutive seasons. The number of people in need of assistance is projected to increase to 4.35 million by October 2022 if the short rains season performs below average.
Seven counties namely, Isiolo, Mandera, Samburu, Turkana, Wajir, Laikipia and Marsabit are in Alarm drought phase while 13 counties including Embu, Garissa, Kajiado, Kitui, Makueni, Meru, Narok, Nyeri, Tharaka Nithi, Taita Taveta, Tana River, Kwale and Kilifi are in Alet drought phase. The remaining 3 counties including Baringo, West Pokot and Lamu are in Normal drought phase. Acute malnutrition has also been noted across the counties with 884,464 cases of children aged 6-59 months acutely malnourished and 115,725 cases of pregnant or lactating women acutely malnourished and in need of treatment.
The August 2022 weather outlook indicates that several parts of the ASALs (95%) will be typically dry and sunny. The PNE counties including Mandera, Wajir, Isiolo, Garissa and Tana River counties will experience generally sunny and dry weather conditions. The Pastoral Northwest counties: especially western strip of Turkana County is expected to receive Near average rainfall with a slight tendency to above average rainfall.
The IRC has been providing life-saving services to refugees and vulnerable local communities in Kenya since 1992. Currently, the IRC works in a multitude of capacities and locations to meet critical needs throughout the country, including:
- Emergency Response | The IRC works in Garissa and Turkana counties to respond to drought emergencies and cholera outbreaks and to support county- level government response;
- Refugee Camp Services | The IRC operates in two refugee camps, Hagadera (in Dadaab complex) in eastern Kenya and Kakuma in north-west Kenya; and
- UrbanProgramming | The IRC provides livelihoods programming for urban refugee and vulnerable Kenyan communities in the informal settlements of Nairobi.
The IRC in Kenya is also committed to forming strong partnerships with local and international organizations–within both the private and public sector–to ensure best practices and protection principles are deeply integrated for all programs.
Health
The IRC in Kenya collaborates with Kenya’s Ministry of Health (MOH) and other implementing partners to provide high-quality health care and build the capacity of affected communities we work with. In Kakuma and Dadaab, the IRC operates hospitals and clinics providing comprehensive primary care, mental health support, and more. All sites work with community health workers (CHWs) or the local county government to monitor diseases like malaria or cholera. On top of this, the CH programs implement preventive and promotive healthcare through behavioral change projects, like community-level hygiene education. Through its community health workers, IRC Kenya conducts routine screening for malnutrition and diseases of outbreak potential, scaling up the number of populations covered and ensuring timely delivery of health care services.
The Reproductive Health and HIV (RH/HIV) program increases access to comprehensive RH/HIV services for beneficiaries in Dadaab and Kakuma. The program offers safe motherhood services like antenatal and postnatal care, family planning, and programs for preventing mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV. The IRC also manages the Core Polio Project which aims to eradicate polio in the Turkana counties. Responding to emergency drought conditions, the IRC has also begun implementing life-saving nutrition activities, including integrated outreach teams in Garissa County and blanket supplementary feeding (BSFP) and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) programs in Turkana.
The Nutrition program fosters the nutritional wellbeing of mothers and children through preventative and clinical services. In Lodwar, Dadaab and Kakuma, the IRC promotes optimal Maternal, Infant and Young Child Nutrition (MICYN) practices through community trainings. Both Kakuma and Dadaab conduct Community Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) programs and provide micronutrient supplements to help reduce and manage malnutrition cases.
Protection and Advocacy
The IRC’s Protection program works to ensure refugees and local communities are safe and supported while also having the power to influence their own decisions. The program interventions in Kenya include information services, advocacy, social cohesion work, protection mainstreaming and monitoring. The information services address topics such as COVID-19 misinformation, accessing IRC services and more. The IRC is currently designing a CISCO Signpost project which would provide up-to- date, critical information in multiple languages to refugees in Dadaab. Protection monitoring allows the IRC to track and respond to client concerns over issues like physical safety, housing, freedom of movement and more. Through discussions with clients and community leaders, the IRC is able to address client concerns directly or help refer them to partner agencies, like the Kenyan Refugee Affairs Secretariat (RAS). The Protection team continuously trains staff on how to conduct these protection referrals, key protection principles, and fraud/corruption. The team also works with other IRC sectors to ensure protection principles are addressed in client responsiveness efforts, such as with the client feedback survey for Urban team’s COVID-19 cash-assistance program. Notably, the IRC Protection team has been working with other agencies since 2014 to advocate for key changes to Kenya's Refugee Bill in order to promote more inclusion of refugees in terms of access to social and economic activities.
Women’s Protection & Empowerment
The Women’s Protect and Empowerment (WPE) program works to prevent and respond to gender-based violence (GBV); promote economic independence and provide leadership training. The IRC provides GBV response and prevention services, such as hotlines, psychosocial support (PSS), and rescue services. Referral pathways are also set up to ensure survivors can reach any needed clinical or legal help. The WPE team encourages community mobilization through EMAP, a year-long primary prevention program for men; radio shows; and SASA! Interventions that raise awareness on GBV and reporting mechanisms. To promote sustainability, women and girls from the community are trained to handle GBV PSS and case management.
In all sites, the WPE team helps run Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs) and safe spaces for women that provide chances to build social networks and learn from each other when facing business or employment challenges. Skills training in potential livelihood activities, like beading, tailoring, gardening or soapmaking, help provide participating women paths to economic independence. The IRC also provides cash and food interventions. Recently, the IRC established a Women and Girls Safe Space (WGSS) in Lodwar, which is the first of its kind to serve host communities in Turkana. Tied to this project, the WPE team partnered with the Turkana County Government to renovate a police gender office, which is also the first in Turkana.
Economic Recovery and Development
The Economic Recvery and Development (ERD) programs are designed to support clients in generating incomes and assets and to scale refugee employability to more contexts. The programming includes vocational and entrepreneurship skills training, business startup and growth grants, private sector apprenticeships/internships, literacy and numeracy training, and Urban Savings and Loans Associations (USLAs). To meet ERD’s main goals, the program uses a vulnerability score to ensure we reach the most vulnerable clients and runs three Livelihood Resource Centers (LRCs) around Nairobi and one mobile resource center to make services more accessible. The ERD program continuously works to improve itself by conducting various impact evaluations to inform future services.