ReliefWeb

(Geneva, 12 June 2014): The UN and partners have launched a two-year humanitarian Strategic Response Plan to respond to the needs of 250,000 people in Djibouti to help them get back on their feet. Of the targeted population, 162,500 are Djibouti nationals, 27,500 are refugees and 60,000 are migrants mainly from Somalia and Ethiopia.

“Persistent and recurring droughts have resulted in a general lack of water for both people and livestock. The affected population is suffering from malnutrition, food insecurity, acute diarrhea and other diseases, and their livestock is dying,” said Robert Watkins, the UN Resident Coordinator in Djibouti.

The objectives of the response plan, which seeks US$74 million in 2014, is to limit the impact of the drought; build resilience and to help the population break out of the recurrent cycle of crises; to improve human and animal health; and to strengthen protection and access to food and basic services for refugees and migrants.

Shortages in rural areas has increased competition over natural resources between local people, refugees and migrants, particularly along the migration corridor that runs through the country. Stress on rural livelihoods has also triggered movements towards the peri-urban area of the capital where an expanded population has put additional pressure on the delivery of basic services such as water.

According to preliminary studies, some areas have reached either a crisis or an emergency level. “We need to respond to the pressing needs today and at the same time build up the necessary resilience to break the vicious cycle of crisis,” said Mr. Watkins.

The response plan is currently 13 per cent funded, notably by an early and generous contribution from the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) that allowed UN agencies to jump-start the implementation of life-saving assistance programmes.

To set up interviews with the Resident Coordinator please contact: Jens Laerke, OCHA Geneva, laerke@un.org , Tel.: +41 22 917 11 42, Cell: +41 79 472 9750