Bern, Press releases, 29.07.2011

President of the Confederation Micheline Calmy-Rey, head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), will visit Kenya from 2 to 4 August 2011. There she will visit the refugee camp in Dadaab. The countries in the Horn of Africa are suffering from a very severe food crisis, and there is widespread starvation in South Somalia.

Twelve million people are currently suffering from the effects of drought, violence and starvation today in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya. The distress is immense and the effect on children is particularly severe. Switzerland has been providing emergency relief in this area since the 1990s. In the year 2011 alone, Swiss Humanitarian Aid contributed a total of approximately CHF 19 million in this region.

Mrs Micheline Calmy-Rey will have an opportunity to assess the challenges facing the international community as well as Switzerland's current efforts in the area. She will visit the refugee camp Dadaab, situated 100 km south-west of the border with Somalia. This camp, which is run by the UN aid organisation UNHCR, is now home to 380'000 people who have fled the civil war and the drought in Somalia.

Enquiries

Lars Knuchel
Head of Information FDFA
phone +41 (0) 79 277 55 60

  


Further information:

Up-to-date information on Switzerland's activities in the Horn of Africa


Address for enquiries:

Information FDFA
Bundeshaus West
CH-3003 Bern
Tel.: (+41) 031 322 31 53
Fax: (+41) 031 324 90 47
E-Mail: info@eda.admin.ch


Publisher:

Federal Department of Foreign Affairs

Last update 19.07.2023

  • FDFA Communication answers media queries Mondays to Fridays during office hours and operates a weekend emergency on-call service.

Contact

FDFA Communication

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3003 Bern

Phone (for journalists only):
+41 58 460 55 55

Phone (for all other requests):
+41 58 462 31 53

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