Gorta Urges Re-Doubling of Efforts to Avert Further Strife in Kenya
NEWS RELEASE
GORTA URGES RE-DOUBLING OF POLITICAL AND CHURCH EFFORTS TO AVERT FURTHER CIVIL STRIFE IN KENYA.
31 January 2008
Irish NGO operating in Kenya calls for increased efforts to induce calm.
GORTA’s CEO Brian Hanratty, has today called for a redoubling of the efforts being directed to seek a negotiated settlement to the present turmoil in Kenya. Gorta has been engaging the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Churches and the Slovenian Presidency of the EU on behalf of partner organisations and their beneficiaries in affected areas.
“Our partners are calling for more international pressure to help break the political deadlock” explained Hanratty. “We should be using all the resources of the Irish Government, EU, UN and the various cultural and religious organisations to bring an early resolution to the deteriorating situation in Kenya,” said Gorta’s CEO, adding that “for decades, the Irish have made a major contribution to Kenya and Africa – and are hugely respected there. We have an important role to play directly – and as an influential member state of the EU through the current Slovenian Presidency.”
From daily contact with Gorta’s partners in Kenya, and other sources, Hanratty has seen the situation deteriorate daily.“In the early days of the violence, our Programme Manager in Kenya reported that he had taken three families into his compound for protection after their houses had been destroyed. In the last week, he and his family have been sheltering twenty families and report increasing violence involving guns, machetes and bow & arrows. Arising from this, they feel they are under increased threat and are planning to relocate to a safer location.”
Hanratty compared the conflict in Kenya with Northern Ireland. “Over three decades, more than 3,000 people lost their lives during the Northern conflict – and the need for peace building is an ongoing need there many years later. In just four weeks, it is likely that more than 1,000 people have lost their lives in Kenya, with no sign of a cessation at the moment.”
As well as the violence and loss of life, Hanratty is concerned about the impact on Gorta’s programmes. “The situation is threatening to undermine developmental gains made by our partners on the ground. Several of our programmes are organised and delivered at community level in rural areas now affected by the unrest. In Kenya, Gorta works in the provision of water, agricultural processing, nutrition for people living with HIV and AIDs, vocational training for girls and technical training in agriculture. Many of the communities we work with are now in a state of panic. Those that were of mixed ethnicity have disintegrated, with people fleeing their homes to regroup among their own. Future programmes will have to be structured to help rebuild trust. They will also have to address some of the underlying grievances now fuelling localised clashes and involve peace building and reconciliation” he concluded.
ENDS
Further information is available from:
- Brian Hanratty CEO, 01 661 5522
- Adrienne Dunne, Manager-Marketing and Communications,Office 01 664 0157, Mobile 087 786 2868, email adrienne.dunne@gorta.org web www.gorta.org
EDITORS NOTES
GORTA-The Freedom from Hunger Council of Ireland
- Gorta’s mission is to work for a world free from the injustices of chronic hunger, povertyand disease, having special regard for the plight of children and the empowerment of women. Gorta establishes partnerships with local communities, and supports local leadership to ensure their needs are met in a sustainable way.
- Programmes and projects supported by Gorta are located predominantly in Sub-Saharan Africa where the need is greatest. Their objective is to help people become self-sufficient in food production and income generation thereby creating a secure future for generations to come. Gorta supports agricultural activities including livestock rearing, irrigation schemes and other water-based projects. The support of education, healthcare initiatives and income generating activities also forms part of Gorta’s work.
- Gorta was the first overseas development organisation to be set up in Ireland. It was established by the Department of Agriculture in 1965 at the request of the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations and has since become an independent NGO. Since its inception, Gorta has channeled the contributions of Irish people to over 2,000 projects in the developing.
