Kenya

Hospital admissions of children suffering from severe malnutrition have spiked in Dagahaley, one of three refugee camps in the Dadaab refugee complex, amid worsening humanitarian conditions in the overcrowded camps, says Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).

In north-eastern parts of Kenya, an ongoing drought rages following three consecutive seasons of failed rains, making an already dire food insecurity situation worse. Marsabit County is now at a level three crisis phase of high or above-usual rates of acute malnutrition. If the medical and humanitarian assistance doesn’t improve, this situation may continue to September 2022. Despite the prolonged drought crisis, the region has seen underinvestment in nutrition from the county and national governments.

During her two weeks field visit in Kenya last April, Maria Verdecchia, MSF epidemiologist and operational research advisor at the MSF Luxembourg Research Unit (LuxOR), developed a research agenda for missions focusing on non-communicable diseases and drug abuse. In addition, she supported the team on epidemiology and finalised ongoing research projects.

With the deadline to close Kenya’s refugee camps just over six months away, urgency is mounting to find sustainable solutions for the refugees in the camps at Dadaab, who risk being deprived of the little assistance they currently receive, warns MSF.

A mental health crisis is growing in Kenya's Dadaab refugee complex, where hundreds of thousands of Somalis have been stuck for decades now.

COVID-19 cases have been gradually rising in Kenya and one of the world’s oldest refugee camp in the country has not been spared.

For the over half a million people living in Mathare, one of Kenya’s largest slums, the arrival of the COVID-19 outbreak in the country may present an even bigger risk than being infected with the virus.

Dimming prospects of lasting solutions amid continued insecurity in Somalia and ever-shrinking resettlement slots have locked refugees in Kenya's Dadaab camps in conditions of vulnerability and dependency.

International and domestic funds available to fight HIV and TB declined in 2018: MSF warns about the current funding decline and its impact on patients.

While renovating and expanding the old Mrima health centre in Likoni, Kenya, MSF set up an innovative shipping-container facility where it offered sexual and reproductive health services, including caesarean sections.

MSF and the Mombasa County Department of Health have upgraded the Mrima Health Centre in Likoni, expectant mothers now have access to emergency obstetric care.

MSF welcomes the Kenyan High Court ruling, which has declared the closure of the Dadaab refugee camps illegal, and has reinstated the Department of Refugee Affairs.

As the announced closure of the world’s largest refugee camp draws closer, and thousands begin the return to war-ravaged Somalia, MSF is calling for other alternatives to be urgently considered by the Government of Kenya and the UNHCR, supported by donor countries.