NGO’s in Kenya–update

…Well, the references to Red Cross involvement in American news only seem to be a small, scattered amount of field reports/statistics. Some others have been concerning.  In Naivasha, for example, there was a massacre which took the Red Cross 3 days to respond to, according to a Kenyan citizen. While they were immediate responders to other isolated incidents in the country. Odhiambo T. Oketch claims that the Kenya Red Cross itself it a partisan agency. (see blog at http://www.africanpath.com/p_blogEntry.cfm?blogEntryID=3435)

The Kenyan government might limit NGO’s, but it’s surprising that something like this would happen on the Red Cross’ watch. While the exact reason for this delay may be unknown, there is more evidence of international aid in the Kenyan crisis. The World Food Programme (a humanitarian wing of the UN) self reports that is has distributed 1,772 mt (metric tons?) of food to Kenyan refugees in the Rift Valley, Western Kenya, and slums around Nairobi and Kisumu. (see statistics at http://mobile.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/WFP/41a8f51b350f7aecd449e2349585bda9.htm) I think we will add the WFP to our list of international aid organizations to watch. Both the WFP and the WHO are branches of the UN, so we feel like following the future actions of both will give us a more accurate idea of how the UN responds to crises. It looks as if the situation in Kenya could even get worse, as CNN recently stated: “The quickly approaching rainy season could also add to a brewing humanitarian crisis if farmers — sidetracked by the violence — can’t get their crops in before the rains come.” The UN has sent a large amount of food aid to Kenyan citizens, and Kofi Annan has intervened to help talks during the crisis. The nongovernment aspects of this crisis are indeed important, but it will take time to understand what lasting effects they have.