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The Horn of Africa’s worst drought in decades is forcing healthcare workers to make difficult decisions. Herman is a UNFPA nursing officer based at the Jaju Dispensary in Kenya. He’s been there for four months without traveling home once. “I have a wife, I have two little daughters. But… these people need me more,” Herman told us. “You have to do it. These people are less privileged, and it’s just because of drought.”
At the Jaju Dispensary site, healthcare workers like Herman are providing outpatient treatment to young children, women, and anybody in need of those services. They are doing mass screening for children under five and women who are pregnant or recently gave birth. But the record drought continues to displace millions of women and girls across the Horn of Africa. To meet their needs and ensure health services are available and accessible, your support in delivering lifesaving care and resources has never been more critical.
Over 4.4 million people in Kenya are in need of humanitarian assistance — including 1.4 million women of reproductive age, 121,750 of whom are pregnant or breastfeeding mothers facing acute malnutrition. In response, UNFPA launched a drought response initiative to support and protect health systems and services. Thanks to supporters, UNFPA has distributed more than 26,000 dignity kits and 24,000 packs of sanitary pads to women and girls in Kenya. UNFPA is supporting a free medical camp that has provided free screening and treatment for childbirth injuries to 479 women, with 49 receiving life-changing reconstructive surgery. But as famine looms in Kenya, now is NOT the time to be scaling back our response. Immediate support is needed to prevent a humanitarian crisis, which is why we’re asking:
Thank you for not turning away from those most vulnerable when crisis hits. — USA for UNFPA |
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