Scale up strategies to mitigate effects of drought, Save the Children

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The carcass of a dead cow in Lamu county PHOTO COURTESY

Nairobi,KENYA:Save the Children has called on various stakeholders including the government to put up measures to curb climate change so as to mitigate the terrors being caused by drought.

The NGO has suggested that water sources should be increased so that they can be utilized during dry spells and especially at this time when the East African region is experiencing the worst drought ever.

According to Save the Children a total of 17.1 million people in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya are facing food insecurity and are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance.

Speaking to journalists at Ole Sereni Hotel in Nairobi on Wednesday, Duncan Harvey Country Director Kenya and Madagscar said, “Turkana, Marsabit and Mandera are the worst hit areas in Kenya. This is an extreme crisis that can worsen in the coming months. This is the worst drought in 25 years in Turkana.”

Save the Children CEO Helle Thorning-Schmidt emphasized the severity of the drought in Northern Kenya adding that this is already threatening the lives and livelihoods of millions in this region.

“Children are as always in these situations most at risk. During my conversation with the County Government of Turkana, the governor Koli Nanok says that his county has been worst hit. Communities are without food and water. Death of livestock has been witnessed and families have no ways of providing for themselves,” Ms. Thorning-Schmidt remarked.

Ms. Thorning-Schmidt who is also former Prime Minister Denmark commented that NGOs have worked with the Government to assess the situation on the ground and estimated that around 350,000 Kenyan children are acutely malnourished.

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