CARE operates three refugee camps in Dadaab, Kenya, which are home to over 160,000 refugees, mostly from neighboring Somalia. The camps are the site of a growing humanitarian crisis — first from a sharp increase in the number of new refugees arriving from Somalia, and most recently from disastrous flooding in the area. CARE is responding with emergency food aid, and clean water and sanitation systems.

Your gift to CARE can help us respond to disasters and create long-term solutions in Kenya and around the world.

Background
The three camps in Dadaab, Kenya, have housed refugees for over 15 years, starting with the flight of refugees from Somalia in 1991. Most of the people living in the camps — 97 percent — are Somali, though there are also refugees from Sudan, Uganda, the Congo and other countries in conflict. Many have lived in Dadaab for over a decade, unable to return to homes still embroiled in chaos. In the past year, increased violence in Somalia has led to a sharp influx of new refugees, as many as 1,000 a day in some cases, putting a heavy burden on resources already stretched thin by the existing population. To make a bad situation worse, severe flooding in November has put several of the camps largely under water, affecting over 100,000 people and threatening a major outbreak of water-borne diseases.

CARE's Work
CARE has worked in the region of Dadaab since the beginning of the refugee crisis in 1991. We manage the three refugee camps in the area, implementing programs focused on food distribution, education, social services, and water and sanitation. Our work addresses needs in the Kenyan host communities as well as the refugee camps, providing emergency relief in response to droughts and floods, and creating long-term solutions to poverty through education, microfinance, economic development and women's empowerment programs.

Emergency Response:

• Water and Sanitation
  CARE is responsible for the water and sanitation systems in the Dadaab camps, including wells, latrines and health education campaigns on hygiene and water use. Following the floods, CARE has been able to provide clean water through water tanks donated by UNICEF.
  
  
• Food Distribution
  CARE works with the World Food Program to distribute food rations to over 140,000 refugees in the three camps. CARE also supplies water and other essential items to local Kenyans affected by the recent flooding.
  
  

Long-Term Projects:

• Education
  CARE manages the schools in the Dadaab camps, providing basic education to all children between the ages of 5 and 18. Despite the damage to classrooms and school supplies caused by the floods, CARE and other agencies have managed to ensure that students were able to take their end-of-year examinations.
  
  
• Community Services
  CARE provides a variety of community services in the camps, including counseling, sports and recreation, conflict resolution and support for vulnerable groups including women and orphans.
  
  
• Economic Development
  CARE helps to provide economic opportunity for camp residents through training in vocational skills, loans of tools and microcredit programs.
  
  

CARE's work in Dadaab is made possible through the support of donors like you. Support vital CARE projects around the world with your generous donation.