Day: July 24, 2023

LILONGWE –The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has been forced to cut assistance to more than 51,000 vulnerable refugees by 50 percent as hunger levels deepen at Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Malawi.

The refugees, who are mainly from the Great Lakes region, receive monthly WFP cash assistance at the camp – where they face several challenges, including insufficient shelter and inadequate health, water, and sanitation services.

The assistance provided was designed to meet the minimum recommended energy needs of 2,100 kilocalories. However, due to chronic funding shortfalls, WFP has been forced to provide reduced rations since 2020. With severe funding challenges persisting, WFP has no choice but to reduce assistance further, potentially leaving thousands of refugees struggling to meet their nutritional needs.

As a result, refugees will now receive a cash allowance of US$ 5.90 (MK 6,300) per person per month. Unfortunately, this amount is barely enough to cover an individual’s monthly food requirements. These food ration cuts come when hunger in Malawi is worsening.

WFP is appealing for US$6.3 million to reinstate the food rations to current levels until June 2024.

“We are worried that the reduction in food rations will exacerbate an already dire food security situation and increase hardships among refugees residing in Dzaleka camp,” said Simon Denhere, the acting Country Director of WFP in Malawi. “These cuts will particularly affect the most vulnerable, including malnourished children, pregnant and breastfeeding women, and people with underlying health conditions.”

The overall state of food security and nutrition has been steadily deteriorating, primarily due to soaring food prices, a surge in the number of refugees entering the country, and the return of refugees to the camp under the Government’s encampment policy.

The latest food security assessments, conducted in January, found that nine out of every ten refugees surveyed in the camp – an equivalent of 45,000 people – are food insecure and need urgent assistance. Over two decades, these refugees fled political instability and social unrest in the Great Lakes and Horn of Africa regions. They have limited access to alternative sources of livelihood and largely depend on WFP food assistance.

Source: EMM/ WFP

With the worrying trend of drug and substance abuse among the youth as per the recently released National Survey on the Status of Drugs and Substance Use in Kenya, various stakeholders have called for concerted efforts to resolve the challenge.

The five-year survey released by the National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA) showed a high prevalence of alcohol use among youth in the productive age bracket of 25 to 35 years.

Speaking at Thingithu Secondary School during a mentorship workshop for boy child that brought together about 1,000 boys from various schools across Laikipia County, stakeholders said if the situation is not reversed, the future generation is doomed to fail miserably.

They lamented that the majority of young people, especially boys, had lost hope in life and engaged in wayward behaviours, including alcohol consumption and hard drugs, for lack of support.

Bishop Geoffrey Gichuki, who was the chief guest, said that sensitization about the adverse effects of drug and alcohol abuse and empowerment of the boy child would salvage the situation.

‘The space of the male gender in society is declining; they have lost hope, and their self-esteem has been shuttered. Consequently, we are destroying future generations if we don’t salvage the situation now,’ said Gichuki.

He said young people needed support to shun bad behaviour and be responsible for the prosperity of the country.

‘The majority are enslaved to drug abuse, and others are not doing well in school. This is dangerous for our country. It’s important that we support them to be responsible and productive men,’ urged the bishop.

Nurture Him organisation Director Dr. Margaret Kangai said that supporting a boy child would enable him to access opportunities to help him live a dignified life.

‘We want to see men living dignified lives, and our aim is to create a conducive environment for them to access opportunities to enable them to have a fulfilled life,’ said Dr. Kangai.

She pointed out that drug abuse and poor study skills were some of the problems affecting boys, hence the need for them to organise the forum and train them on how to set achievable goals.

‘Boys have raised issues that affect them in their day-to-day lives. The main one is drug and substance abuse. Our mentors have trained them on how to overcome those challenges,’ she pointed out.

Nurture Him is a community-based organisation in Laikipia whose key objective is to bridge the gender gap between boys and girls through empowerment programmes and education. They were the sponsors of the boy-child mentorship workshop with other partners.

Laikipia County Assistant County Commissioner Ms. Fridah Kawira said that the use of narcotics had led to an increase in suicides and domestic violence cases in society and called for concerted efforts to eradicate the menace.

‘We need to bring boys on board since they are the most affected by the issue of narcotics and rehabilitate them so they can engage in economic activities. They should not shy away from reporting instead of committing heinous acts,’ said Ms. Kawira.

Laikipia County Gender Coordinator, Ms. Karen Kiogora, said that boys needed to be informed about their rights for them to be responsible and earn respect in society.

Lamenting the rise in defilement cases in the county, Ms. Kiogora advised sexual abuse victims to seek help at Nanyuki Police Care, a one-stop shop that seeks to address sexual-based violence in the county.

A group dubbed Beacon Teachers Movement, whose Nyeri County Branch Chairman is Gitonga Muriithi, told the youth not to feel neglected, saying many stakeholders were willing to support them whenever they needed it.

The theme of the workshop, which sought to rekindle the hope of the boy child, was ‘Towards a re-engineered boy child.’

Source: Kenya News Agency

Tourism Principal Secretary John Ololtua has revealed that the government is working on a conceptual mapping framework intended to mark all tourist attraction sites in the country to further revitalise the tourism sector.

Speaking in Kilgoris during the Inaugural TransMara Classic Narok Girl Talent Search, Athletics, the PS, who was the Chief Guest, hailed sporting events and cultural festivals as contributors to the tourism and hospitality sectors in the country.

Tourism Principal Secretary John Ololtua addressing the Media at Farmer’s Hotel in Kilgoris, Narok County shortly after gracing the Inaugural TransMara Classic Narok Girl Talent Search Athletics. Photo by Lamech Willy

He pointed out that mapping will be done in liaison with the County governments to identify the tourism potential that exists across the Country.

‘My Ministry, with the guidance of My Cabinet Secretary and Principal Secretaries, is doing a mapping of all attractions. There are many attractions in the country that we need to promote,’ explained the PS, adding: ‘Our strong collaboration with County governments seeks to identify the potential that exists in tourism.’

The PS further noted that sports events like golf tournaments and World Rally Championships were key to attracting people and also promoting the image of the country, thus attracting visitors and foreign investors.

‘Every department in our government has a vital role to play in promoting tourism in our country, and there is an interlinkage. For instance, the Ministry of Sports organises the World Rally Champions that bring in visitors to the country, and when they come, they impact the economy by the money they spend, but the most important thing is the foreign investors they attract,’ explained the PS.

He particularly mentioned the twin phenomena of the wildebeest migration in the Maasai Mara and whales on the Kenyan coast of Watamu as a spectacular event to showcase the best Kenya can offer in the tourism sector.

The World Tourism Research Institute’s statistics indicated that by June this year, the country had received a whopping 1.4 million tourists. ‘We expect by the end of July 2023 to have received 1.65 million tourists. This rise is attributed to an increase in visitor confidence in the destinations,’ revealed the PS.

For domestic tourism, the PS said bed occupancy is expected to reach 4.52 million, an increase of 14 per cent from 3.95 million recorded in FY 2021/22, and attributed the rise to increasing interest among Kenyans to travel locally.

The tourism sector has been contributing more than 10 per cent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Source: Kenya News Agency

Kenya Forest Service and Mombasa County Government have held an inaugural mad bath marathon in the Jomvu constituency to raise awareness about mangrove ecosystem conservation.

The marathon also aims to raise funds to set up beacons to demarcate the mangrove forest boundaries, build the capacity of the local Community Forest Associations (CFAs), and implement the National Mangrove Ecosystem Management Plan.

The event is a precursor to the national celebrations of International Day for the Conversation of the Mangrove Ecosystems, to be marked on the 26th of July in Lunga Lunga Sub-County, Kwale County.

According to the National Forest Assessment Report 2021, Nairobi, Mombasa, and Kisumu cities have low tree cover per capita.

‘Factors associated with this trend could be growing human needs, especially the rapidly expanding physical infrastructure, low priority for green infrastructural development (Urban forestry), and ballooning population,’ reads the assessment report in part.

The report also shows that the natural forest type has the highest proportion of forests with 84 percent, whereas mangroves have the most negligible proportion of forest types with one per cent.

Speaking after the marathon, Jomvu MP Badi Twalib Badi assured KFS of his unwavering support for the conservation of mangroves in the constituency.

‘It’s not right to encroach on mangrove areas by law; there is a place known as riparian land from where the mangrove forest ends, with 30 or 40 metres, which is riparian land.

We are informing you in earnest that a plan is underway to install beacons. We will cooperate with all conservation stakeholders to ensure the beacons are in place to protect our mangrove forest. The mangroves have been cut down,’ said the legislator.

The MP urged Mining, Blue Economy, and Maritime Affairs CS Salim Mvurya not to leave out the constituency when issuing fishing gear for the fisher folk to expand their business.

James Mwangombe, who represented the Acting Chief Conservator of Forests, Alex Lemarkoko, in the marathon, urged forest-adjacent communities to take part in the conservation of mangroves and challenged every resident to plant at least 30 seedlings in a year.

‘KFS has a huge mandate that it is implementing with partners to conserve forests. We have a responsibility to plant more mangroves. The mangroves are the nursery for fish; we should protect the mangroves,’ said Mwangombe.

The county Executive for transport and infrastructure, Dan Manyala, elucidated the importance of mangroves in the conservation of the environment.

Source: Kenya News Agency