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Ramadan 2024: UNHCR aid campaign targets Dadaab refugees

UNHCR Deputy High Commissioner Kelly Clements (4th L), Dubai Islamic Bank representative Mary Kanuku (3rd L) and other officials during the launch of the Ramadan fundraising campaign for the Daadab refugee camp on March 7, 2024. Photo: UNHCR

By Lucy Mumbi | Thursday, March 7, 2024

Funds from the Ramadan 2024 campaign will ensure continued provision of clean water and shelter kits to more than 350,000 refugees and host community members at the Dadaab refugee camp.

The UNHCR has launched a campaign to support thousands of families, particularly the most vulnerable at the Dadaab refugee camp, during the holy month of Ramadan that begins next week.

Funds from the Ramadan 2024 campaign will ensure continued provision of clean water and shelter kits to more than 335,000 refugees and host community members in the camp, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said on Thursday.

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Deputy High Commissioner Kelly Clements noted that such drives provide a much-needed lifeline for individuals forced into the camp and the communities hosting them.

“We witnessed tremendous support for last year’s campaign, enabling us to ensure access to water for more than 100,000 people living in Dadaab. For this year, we call upon people and businesses to come forward and join hands with the UNHCR to help those most in need,” Clements said during the ceremony launching the campaign.

According to the commission, last year’s funds helped maintain seven out of the 22 boreholes in Dadaab via the replacement of submersible pumps, security costs and general checks.

“This ensured the operational continuity of boreholes and sustained water supply to more than 100,000 people,” UNHCR said.

How to contribute

Contributions for the 2024 campaign can be made through various channels, including bank transfers, M-Pesa, and Bonga Points, with options to specify donations as Sadaqah or Zakat.

Donors are to use bank account number 0108097038100 for Kenya shilling contributions and 8708097038100 for US dollar contributions. The account name is 'United Nations, High Commissioner for Refugees', the bank name is Standard Chartered, Westlands, and the Swift Code is SCBLKENX.

M-Pesa users who wish to send Zakat donations are to use Paybill number 329378 and account name 'Zakat'. Sadaqah donors can send their contributions using M-Pesa Paybill number: 329378 and account name 'Sadaqah'.

Contributors can also donate using Bonga Points by dialling *126*20#.

Every year, the UNHCR runs the Ramadan campaign in Kenya to facilitate Sadaqah and Zakat contributions to support refugees and host communities at Dadaab.

More than seven million people in Africa, the Middle East, North Africa and Asia have benefited from the Refugee Zakat Fund launched by the commission in 2019.

Other initiatives

Earlier, the government announced that it had allocated Sh123 million to vulnerable Muslim households ahead of Ramadan.

The funds will be used to purchase 4,800, 50-kg bags of rice; 12,000 bags of beans, vegetable oil, and 28 boxes of sardine, foodstuff that will ensure access to nutritious meals.

Last month, the government issued a directive for Muslims to be exempted from paying taxes on dates imported for Ramadan. Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung'u said the government had approved the duty-free importation of dates, the goal being "to provide support to the Muslim community".

With March 10 - April 4 being the tentative Ramadan period, the state dates imported and cleared between March 1 and April 20, 2024, would be considered for the tax exemption.

Muslims have also come together to make donations for needy families, a show of the community spirit the season brings. On February 25, thousands took part in Zakat Kenya's Iftar Fun Walk aimed at raising funds to support vulnerable families.