US releases funds to treat 50K malnourished children in Kenya

On Monday, the US announced that it is providing a gigantic amount of 600 million shillings (USD 6 million) through its development agency, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to two UN agencies to treat about 50,000 malnourished children under five years of age in the coming months.

The US agency said the World Food Programme (WFP) and United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) each received USD 3 million to procure and distribute specialized products made in Kenya for the treatment of acute malnutrition in children.

"USAID partners are also working to provide affected populations with food, cash support, water, sanitation, hygiene services, and livestock assistance to help protect livelihoods," it said in a statement issued in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, as reported by Xinhua.

Kenya is confronting a deteriorating drought situation and reduced food access for households in 21 of the 23 arid and semi-arid lands counties following a second consecutive season of below-average rainfall.

About 1.6 million people in Kenya are in urgent need of food assistance in June, according to the National Drought Management Authority and the Kenya Food Security Steering Group.

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