Wife of US Vice-President in the country to assess hunger situation

Business

By Cyrus Ombati

Jill Biden, the wife of US Vice-President Joe Biden, is in Kenya to assess the hunger situation in the country.

Biden arrived on Monday morning at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport aboard a US flight and flew directly to Dadaab Refugee Camp where she would assess the situation.

Jill Biden, the wife of US Vice-President Joe Biden
Officials at the American embassy in Nairobi said she was accompanied by the head of the US Agency for International Development (USAid) and other top US donors.

Public Affairs Officer in the Nairobi-based US embassy, John Haynes confirmed her presence in Kenya without giving much details.

A statement from the embassy said Biden will also highlight the support of the United States for development efforts across the region, and will visit the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) in Nairobi.

“During this visit, Dr. Biden will meet with government of Kenya officials, including Minister of Agriculture Hon. Dr. Sally Kosgei, and highlight the Obama-Biden Administration’s Feed the Future program, which is investing in country-led strategies designed to address the root causes of hunger and food insecurity around the world.”

Because emergency assistance alone cannot solve the underlying food insecurity in the region, institutions like KARI and Feed the Future are also critical at this time, added the statement.

Biden is to meet with President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga to highlight the ongoing partnership between the two countries and to discuss how the United States can work with international partners on the best response to this crisis.

Officials at JKIA said Biden arrived aboard a US plane before she jumped into another military one that was waiting at about 8am and left for Dadaab.

She was welcomed by top US embassy officials.

She is expected to meet top government officials in Nairobi later in the day before leaving for the US.

Biden and USAid chief Rajiv Shah are to assess the food emergency in East Africa and consider what more the United States should be doing to assist in relief efforts.

The US government ranks, by far as the largest state donor to Kenya’s food needs.

Washington’s $160 million in humanitarian aid to Kenya so far amounts to more than one-third of all funding from donor countries, according to the UN’s Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Aid (Ocha).

The European Commission ranks second, with $67 million in assistance to Kenya, which represents 15 per cent of the total. China has not supplied Kenya with any humanitarian aid this year, according to Ocha.

In June last year, Joe Biden and Jill visited Kenya when she also visited the Kibera slum and the Starehe Girls’ Centre in Nairobi.

UN Drought Appeal is only 44 per cent funded, with an additional $1.4 billion urgently required.

Switzerland president Micheline Anne-Marie Calmy-Rey was also in Dadaab last week to assess the situation.

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