LWF Joins Urgent Call for Support for Dadaab Refugee Camp

Dramatic Impact of Anticipated Funding Shortfall Outlined in Briefing Paper

The Lutheran World Federation (LWF), a member of ACT Alliance, has joined a number of aid agencies in drawing attention to the looming funding shortage at the Dadaab refugee complex in northeastern Kenya.

The seven humanitarian actors have issued a briefing paper that details the perilous situation at the camps where money for vital services is anticipated to run out in two to three months.

“The 250,000-odd refugees who flooded into Dadaab over the past two years have meant that there is now a funding shortfall of at least USD 60 million for the five camps in the Dadaab complex,” said Lennart Hernander, LWF representative for the Kenya-Djibouti program.

Gaps in aid deny many children in Dadaab an education, he noted. “Alone in two of the camps, some 29,000 children are out of school because there are no funds.”

The need for decent, permanent shelter is equally urgent, Hernander added, noting that many refugees were forced to stay in makeshift huts or worn-out tents supplied during the emergency.

Hernander remarked that Kenya hosts some of the largest populations of refugees in the world, making it easy to forget that refugees are the responsibility of the international community.