Photo/FILE Mr Obama invoked the holiday spirit in announcing the new infusion of aid, which brings total US assistance to the drought-hit sub-region to nearly $1 billion.
By KEVIN J KELLEY in New York newdesk@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Saturday, December 24 2011 at 20:04
Posted Saturday, December 24 2011 at 20:04
President Barack Obama said on Friday that the United States will provide an additional $113 million in emergency relief to the countries in the Horn of Africa, including Kenya.
Mr Obama invoked the holiday spirit in announcing the new infusion of aid, which brings total US assistance to the drought-hit sub-region to nearly $1 billion.
The US has provided about $250 million worth of relief to Kenya alone through United Nations agencies.
“As we enter the season of giving and renewal,” President Obama declared, “more than 13.3 million people in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia remain in urgent need of humanitarian assistance amid the worst drought the region has seen in 60 years.”
“The heartbreaking accounts of lives lost and of those struggling to survive remind us of our common humanity and the need to reach out to people in need.”
The president also called attention to the long-term Feed the Future programme his administration has championed. It aims to help 502,000 Kenyans escape hunger and poverty during the next five years.
Meanwhile, the humanitarian organisations Oxfam America and the American Refugee Committe have warned that thousands of Somalis – many in need of urgent lifesaving assistance – face a potential cut-off of aid from abroad from family members as a U.S. bank plans to close money-wiring services later this month.
A local American bank announced last week it will be necessary for it to cease its financial wiring services with “hawala” money transfer companies to Somalia because the risk of violating US counterterrorism financing regulations is too high.
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