Kenya Environmental & Political News Weblog

• Kenya IDPs: Rosemary Kuria: “These children belong here, where else can I take them?”

  Posted: April 30, 2008, 2:52 pm by Phil

  ELDORET, 28 April 2008 (IRIN) - Rosemary Kuria, 40, has managed to remain cheerful and energetic, despite camping with at least 14,000 other internally displaced persons (IDPs) at the showground in Eldoret, in Kenya’s Rift Valley Province. Kuria, a mother of three girls, is optimistic that the country’s leadership will soon find a solution [...]

• Kenya IDPs: Camp Conditions Harsh for HIV-positive People

  Posted: April 30, 2008, 2:48 pm by Phil

  Photo: Manoocher Deghati/IRIN IDPs have insufficient food, soap and warm clothing in the camps NAKURU, 29 April 2008 (PlusNews) - Harsh living conditions and the onset of the cold rainy season in Kenya are making it increasingly difficult for HIV-positive people displaced in the recent post-election violence to stay healthy, according to health workers in [...]

• ARV Programmes Slowly Recovering From Kenya Post-election Crisis

  Posted: April 29, 2008, 12:21 pm by Phil

  Photo: Manoocher Deghati/IRIN AMPATH has opened a satellite centre in the Nakuru Showground IDP camp where patients can receive ARVs ELDORET, 28 April 2008 (PlusNews) - Thousands of Kenyans who dropped out of HIV treatment programmes in January as a result of the country’s post-election violence are gradually returning to clinics and the antiretroviral (ARV) [...]

• Henry Mwitirere, Kenya, “I’m displaced but at least I can help other HIV-positive people”

  Posted: April 29, 2008, 12:14 pm by Phil

  Photo: Manoocher Deghati/IRIN Mwiterere and his family of seven children now live in a two-roomed house in Nakuru, but are still better off than most IDPs NAKURU, 28 April 2008 (PlusNews) - Henry Kamau Mwiterere works with the Academic Model for the Prevention and Treatment of HIV (AMPATH) as a facilitator for HIV support groups [...]

• KENYA: IDPs Remain Cautious as Leaders Preach Peace

  Posted: April 25, 2008, 7:32 pm by Phil

  Photo: Julius Mwelu/IRIN Hundreds of thousands of people were displaced in post-election violence in Kenya ELDORET, 25 April 2008 (IRIN) - Ndirangu Mwangi, 26, one of 14,000 people camping in the Rift Valley town of Eldoret’s showground, was less than encouraged after Kenya’s political leaders visited the town as part of a “national healing” initiative. “We [...]

• Anti-Malaria Bed Nets: New Push Announced at UN

  Posted: April 25, 2008, 7:32 pm by Phil

  The United Nations has teamed up with religious, business and sports leaders in a new effort to send insecticide-treated bed nets to Africa to prevent millions of deaths from the disease, ahead of the first-ever World Malaria Day on Friday.“Nothing But Nets” is a grassroots campaign created in 2006 by the UN Foundation to raise [...]

• Inventor of Kenya’s ‘MoneyMaker’ Irrigation Pumps Wins $100,000 Award

  Posted: April 23, 2008, 7:24 pm by Phil

  The inventor of manual irrigation pumps used by peasant farmers in Africa has won the $100,000 Lemelson-MIT Award for Sustainability. Martin Fisher is the co-founder and CEO of the nonprofit KickStart, which develops and markets tools such as the pumps that can help small-scale rural farmers. Nearly 62,000 people in Kenya, Tanzania and Mali are running profitable [...]

• Winners of UNEP Champions of the Earth Awards 2008 Call for Urgent Action on Climate Change

  Posted: April 23, 2008, 7:23 pm by Phil

  Catalysts for the Global Green Economy Honored at Gala Evening in Singapore Singapore/Nairobi, 22 April 2008 - Seven leading lights in the battle against global warming who are also catalyzing the transition to a greener and leaner global economy were today acknowledged as the 2008 Champions of the Earth. The winners, ranging from His Serene Highness Prince [...]

• Kenya’s Food Crisis Worsens as Fungi Destroys Rice Harvest

  Posted: April 18, 2008, 4:55 pm by Phil

  Geneva - Kenya’s food crisis was set to worsen after a fungi wiped out 10 to 20 per cent of its annual rice production, the UN said Friday. The fungi destroyed 5,600 hectares of rise in the Mwea Irrigation Scheme in Central Province, known as the rice basket of the country, according to the UN Office [...]

• Hunger Crisis Looming in Horn of Africa if Rains Fail this Month

  Posted: April 18, 2008, 11:23 am by Phil

  International community must act earlier to address increasing vulnerability. An estimated 14 million people in the Horn of Africa are facing a food emergency just two years on from the height of the worst drought in decades, CARE International warned today. Without significant rain this month, millions of people, already left devastated and vulnerable by the [...]

• Growing More Potatoes to Improve Food Security

  Posted: April 18, 2008, 11:22 am by Phil

  Growing more potatoes could help countries like Kenya to improve their food security at a time of high cereal prices, an agricultural expert said. Potatoes are a more efficient food source than maize or rice, requiring less land and water than the cereals. About 80 per cent of the potato crop can be used for human consumption, [...]

• Kenya IDPs: Reconciliation Key To Returns

  Posted: April 16, 2008, 10:09 am by Phil

  Photo: Allan Gichigi/IRIN IDPs at Mathare police depot. Reconciliation efforts will have to be stepped up before people start returning home NAIROBI, 15 April 2008 (IRIN) - Peace-building and reconciliation efforts to alleviate ethnic tension must be stepped up before internally displaced Kenyans are pushed to return to their homes or the risk of further [...]

• KENYA: When There’s NO Excuse Not to Use a Condom

  Posted: April 16, 2008, 10:05 am by Phil

  Photo: IRIN Young men and women have adopted the condom as a routine part of their sexual relationships. NAIROBI, 15 April 2008 (PlusNews) - When the music’s pumping, drinks are flowing and hormones are raging, condoms don’t often spring to mind, until it’s too late. By then, the shops are closed and a packet of [...]

• Relief Agencies Appeal for Funds as New Kenyan Coalition Government Named

  Posted: April 15, 2008, 10:37 am by Phil

  Photo: Allan Gichigi/IRIN IDPs preparing a meal at the Mathare police depot. The new appeal is aimed at helping those affected by post-election violence NAIROBI, 14 April 2008 (IRIN) - Relief agencies are seeking US$189 million for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and others affected by the post-election violence that rocked Kenya in January and February, [...]

• Water Crisis as Dry Conditions Persist in the NEP

  Posted: April 15, 2008, 10:26 am by Phil

  Photo: John Nyaga/IRIN A dead camel near Mandera during the 2006 drought. Ordinarily camels are the most drought-resistant animals. ISIOLO, 14 April 2008 (IRIN) - Serious shortages of water and pasture for livestock are being experienced in the northern Kenyan districts of Isiolo, Mandera and Wajir as dry conditions continue, local leaders said. “The situation is [...]

• Kenya Government to Roll Out Male Circumcision

  Posted: April 11, 2008, 10:37 am by Phil

  Photo: Mercedes Sayagues/IRIN Initial efforts by NGOs in non-circumcising Nyanza province have met with little resistance NAIROBI, 10 April 2008 (PlusNews) - The Kenyan government has embarked on an ambitious national programme to fast track the national rollout of male circumcision as a means of preventing HIV. Results from three randomised controlled trials in South Africa, Kenya [...]

• The Cost of Keeping Children from Knowing their HIV Status

  Posted: April 9, 2008, 11:25 am by Phil

  Photo: Peter Murimi/IRIN Gordon has written a book highlighting the importance of early disclosure KAMPALA, 8 April 2008 (PlusNews) - Throughout his childhood, Gordon Turibamwe, 20, was sickly, suffering from frequent bouts of malaria and chest infections, but his father only told him he was HIV-positive when he was aged 16, something Gordon says caused [...]

• KENYA: Talks Deadlock Could Slow IDP Returns - officials

  Posted: April 9, 2008, 10:44 am by Phil

  Photo: Julius Mwelu/IRIN A volunteer talks to the displaced at an IDP camp: Suspension of talks between ODM and PNU could slow or halt progress made in returning thousands of internally IDPs to their homes NAIROBI, 8 April 2008 (IRIN) - The suspension of talks between Kenya’s key political parties, announced on 8 April, could [...]

• Kenya Army and Rebel Militia Commit War Crimes in Mt. Elgon

  Posted: April 8, 2008, 2:11 pm by Phil

  End Murder, Torture, and Rape of Civilians The rebel Sabaot Land Defence Force and the Kenyan military are responsible for horrific abuses, including killings, torture and rape of civilians, in a little-known armed conflict in the Mt. Elgon area of western Kenya, Human Rights Watch said today in a joint statement with two Kenyan human rights [...]

• Climate Change will Erode the Foundations of Health

  Posted: April 7, 2008, 1:07 pm by Phil

  WHO Director-General warns vulnerable populations at greatest risk of projected impacts Geneva, 7 April 2008 - Scientists tell us that the evidence the Earth is warming is “unequivocal.” Increases in global average air and sea temperature, ice melting and rising global sea levels all help us understand and prepare for the coming challenges. In [...]

• Cholera Kills 40 in Western Kenya Region

  Posted: April 4, 2008, 10:35 am by Phil

  Photo: Ann [...]

• Countdown to World Environment Day - 5 June 2008

  Posted: April 4, 2008, 10:32 am by Phil

  World Environment Day, commemorated each year on 5 June, is one of the principal vehicles through which the United Nations stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and action. The World Environment Day slogan for 2008 is Kick the Habit! Towards a Low Carbon Economy. Recognising that climate change is becoming the defining [...]

• Get Ready To Stand up and Take Action for the MDGs: October 17th -19th 2008

  Posted: April 2, 2008, 8:55 pm by Phil

  Last year, more than 43 million people all over the world stood up and spoke out sending a clear and powerful message to governments: Keep your promises to end poverty and achieve the Millennium Development Goals. This year we are inviting you to Stand Up and Take Action, to be a part of the growing global [...]

• Kenya Floods Hit Thousands, Including IDP Camps

  Posted: April 2, 2008, 8:10 pm by Phil

  Photo: Richard [...]

• KENYA: Tracing Roots of Conflict in Laikipia

  Posted: April 2, 2008, 8:09 pm by Phil

  Photo: Allan [...]

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