MSF calls on humanitarian donors to rapidly release funding critical to meeting surging needs for life-saving assistance and protection. The UN Refugee Agency UNHCR has made appeals to donors to mobilize resources for the reopening of a camp in Dadaab that was initially closed in 2018, the Ifo 2 site. This camp is needed to accommodate up to 80,000 refugees from the already congested camps ahead of the approaching dry season, when more people are expected to make their way into Dadaab.
Unless urgent appeals for funding are answered and additional humanitarian aid is provided soon, the incoming influx of refugees could tip the crisis beyond the levels that humanitarian organizations can manage with the currently allocated resources.
Refugees in Dadaab have been locked in a 30-year protracted emergency. Even as the immediate priority is to respond to the escalating needs in the camps, it is equally vital to implement the durable solution agenda for refugees, as embedded in the Kenyan legal framework, notably the 2022 Refugee Act.
MSF has been delivering health care in and around Dadaab for most of the camp’s 30-year existence. Our current programs are focused in Dagahaley camp, where we provide comprehensive health care to refugees and host communities, including basic and specialized care through two health posts and a 92-bed hospital. Our medical services include treatment for malnutrition, sexual and reproductive health care, emergency obstetrical surgeries, medical and psychological assistance to survivors of sexual and gender-based violence, mental health care, home-based insulin care, and palliative care.