In the Horn of Africa, a number of countries including Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya and Djibouti are facing their worst droughts in 60 years. At a time when many refugees are moving into eastern Kenya, the International Cooperation and Development Fund (TaiwanICDF) has joined forces with Mercy Corps, a long-term partner, to provide US$200,000 toward a drought-relief program in the country. The primary objective of the program will be to repair and reconstruct the region’s water supplies and associated infrastructure, with a view to alleviating local water shortages.

The implementation of the TaiwanICDF-funded relief program will include a voucher-exchange scheme to provide those in need with quotas of clean drinking water, grants to water-pumping stations, repairs to water-related equipment and machinery, support for testing and disinfection of water sources, provision of public toilets and provision of public health education to mitigate the spread of water-borne diseases. By providing local citizens and refugees with access to clean water and related services, the program will reduce outbreaks of conflict that might otherwise arise due to competition over water for human consumption, while also stabilizing the local economy by supporting the operation of the livestock industry. Beginning late September, the program will be implemented over four months and is expected to benefit some 45,000 persons.

This mobilization of resources comes in the wake of the Drought Emergency Meeting convened in Rome, July 2011, by the Emergency Relief Coordinator and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs of the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, with backing from the World Food Programme and the FAO. At the meeting, global authorities called on the international community to support those in need by providing emergency humanitarian assistance. Authorities at the TaiwanICDF believe that cooperation with Mercy Corps will demonstrate Taiwan’s spirited desire to provide such assistance and to fulfill its responsibilities as a member of the international community. Moreover, the organization hopes that the implementation of the program may increase and consolidate connections between Taiwan and eastern African nations and lay the groundwork for more substantive relations, and the implementation of further development programs, throughout the region in future.

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• Update: 2018/03/01
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