On September 7, 2011, the Government of Japan decided to contribute emergency relief supplies to Somalia refugees affected by the current drought and conflict. The supplies include generators and tents worth more than 0.5 million USD (40 million Japanese Yen) for the Dollo Ado camp in Ethiopia. The supplies will be made available by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) with funds channeled through the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

According to the current United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) announcement, about 12.4 million people in Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti are in need of emergency humanitarian assistance. The worst drought that has hit the Horn of Africa in 6 decades, due to the deterioration of the rainfall from the end of 2010, has resulted in a considerable increase in migration flows across international borders. In this connection, the number of Somalia refugees in Dollo Ado’s four camps has now crossed the 120,000 mark with almost 80,000 refugees from Somalia arriving this year alone.

During 2011, the Government of Japan has already provided 95 million USD through the International Organizations such as UNHCR and WFP. Similarly, Japan extended one million USD for supporting NGO activities in the Horn of Africa and Emergency Relief Supplies to the refugee camps in Kenya, worth  0.6 million (600,000) USD for the support of the drought disaster in the Horn of Africa.