IOM Somalia Distributes Hygiene Kits to Flood Victims in Kismayo

GENEVA, Switzerland, June 11, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- IOM Somalia and the NGO Agency for Peace and Development (APD) have distributed emergency hygiene kits to 1,000 households affected by the floods in Kismayo, Somalia. Each hygiene kit contained aqua tabs, jerry cans and soap.

According to ICRC, approximately 1,539 people from 11 internally displaced settlements have been affected by the heavy flooding, which started on 24th May 2014.

“Access to clean water is the basis for a healthy life and IOM's mission is to promote, and in this case, directly engage in provision of hygiene kits to flood-affected vulnerable people in Kismayo,” says IOM water and hygiene specialist Omar Khayre.

Apart from distribution of hygiene kits and awareness raising campaigns, IOM is planning to disinfect and clean wells, construct emergency latrines, and empty existing latrines in the affected areas to lower the risk of the spread of water-borne diseases.

IOM is collaborating with UNICEF, ICRC, ACTED and local authorities in responding to the emergency. Its water, sanitation and hygiene projects are funded by the Common Humanitarian Fund (CHF), Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and the Government of Japan.