Around 288,000 children aged 0 to 15 years are being targeted in the campaign, according to a news release issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Since the first case was discovered on 17 May, laboratory tests have confirmed that four more people have polio, a highly infectious disease caused by a virus that invades the nervous system and can cause total paralysis in a matter of hours.

The first round of vaccinations will be completed today, the agencies said. The next round, which begins in one week, will target the whole refugee population in Dadaab – some 424,000 people. The campaign will have four rounds in total.

At the same time, the Kenyan Ministry of Health is also conducting a vaccination campaign among the host community population in North Eastern Province in close collaboration with WHO.

The polio outbreak in Dadaab comes after a similar outbreak in Somalia, where one case has been reported in the capital, Mogadishu. The Somali Government has expressed concern about the situation in south-central Somalia, where immunization activities have not taken place for the last three years because of the security situation.

Currently, only three countries – Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan – are polio endemic.

“He congratulates the people of Kenya for their impressive determination to participate peacefully in the elections, and for the patience they have demonstrated while awaiting the results,” his spokesperson said in a statement.

According to media reports, Kenya’s Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) announced that Uhuru Kenyatta had narrowly avoided a run-off by winning 50.07 per cent of votes in a credible and transparent poll. Voter turnout in the 4 March election was reportedly the largest ever in the country, at 86 per cent.

Mr. Ban spoke by phone yesterday with Mr. Kenyatta and the other candidate, Raila Odinga.

“He reiterated his call for both leaders to send clear messages of calm to their supporters, and he reminded them of the commitments they have made throughout this process to channel any electoral grievances through the established legal avenues,” said Mr. Ban’s spokesperson.

“He therefore welcomes the measured statements both have made since the announcement of results. Kenyans are depending at this time on wise and responsible leadership.”

“I urge the authorities in Kenya to ensure that civilians of all ethnic and political backgrounds can exercise their right to vote in safety and security, and to guarantee that in the post-election period we do not witness the rise in politically-motivated rape which occurred in the wake of the last elections,” the Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Zainab Hawa Bangura, said in a statement.

Monday’s election will be the first presidential polls since the December 2007 vote, which was followed by post-election violence in which more than 1,100 people were killed, 3,500 injured and up to 600,000 forcibly displaced.

As Kenya goes to the polls, national and international observers and human rights actors have warned of the risk of election violence, including the deliberate targeting of civilians due to political or ethnic affiliations, Ms. Bangura noted, adding that thousands of cases of rape and other forms of sexual assault were documented after the last elections.

“I call on all candidates to speak out against election violence, and for the Kenyan authorities to take the necessary steps to avert the risk of increased sexual violence and ensure the protection of civilians, especially women and girls,” she stated.

“Above all, the Kenyan authorities must remain alert to the warning signs and send the signal that such crimes will not be tolerated.

Also, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said it is deploying a four-person team to monitor the human rights situation during the electoral period and to support the Kenyan National Commission of Human Rights as well as civil society groups.

Earlier this week, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced the hope that all Kenyans will work together to ensure that the 4 March election will be peaceful and credible, and said he trusted that efforts made at many levels to prevent a repeat of past violence will be redoubled during the remainder of the campaign.

FAO said in a news release that the speed of communication and accuracy of the global positioning system (GPS) function integrated on mobile phones is of great advantage for farmers who are increasingly using this technology.

“FAO and partners are piggy-backing on this enormous uptake of mobile phone technology for uses in reporting animal disease outbreaks, tracking vaccination campaigns and the delivery of veterinary treatments, such as de-worming animals,” said FAO’s Assistant Representative for Programme Implementation in the country, Robert Allport.

Three out of four people have a mobile phone in Kenya and while only a third of Kenyans have access to the Internet, 99 per cent of this comes from mobile phones.

Mr. Allport said the widespread adoption of this technology has revolutionized the livestock sector, as up until five years ago veterinarians had to travel to remote locations to record data and then again to process the paperwork.

“Cellular phones eliminate delays in receiving field data, since all the information is relayed via the mobile network,” Mr. Allport said.

FAO recently partnered with the Royal Veterinary College and Vetaid, local non-governmental organization, to support the testing of EpiCollect, a mobile phone application that helps track animal vaccination and treatment campaigns.

The application would allow users to access and monitor vaccination data in real-time, and could potentially be made available not just to veterinarians but to animal health workers and village elders.

FAO has also developed an information system to display data on disease outbreaks that would allow for an early warning system to isolate infected animals and prevent the death of tens of thousands of livestock. The system, known as EMPRES-i will be tested in Uganda this year.

“The FAO EMPRES-i system is truly a global public good, and our reporting and response times are being constantly improved, now thanks to incredible technology,” said Juan Lubroth, FAO’s Chief Veterinary Officer. “Prevention, preparedness and early response are powerful concepts that when translated into tools can be effectively used against infectious diseases, thereby safeguard people’s livelihoods, fend off hunger and, in some cases, human illness,” he added.

In addition, FAO has partnered with Oxfam and Nokia to monitor water points in pastoralist areas as an early warning indicator for drought in Kenya and Ethiopia, and is assessing how mobile technology can be used to better link livestock producers with markets and livestock traders.

“Traders won’t travel to a remote area to purchase animals unless they have a guarantee that they will be able to buy a minimum number of animals. Otherwise, the expense of making the trip isn’t worthwhile,” Mr. Allport said. “But if sellers at market can relay information to a central point about how many animals they have, where and at what price, then the market functions more efficiently and pricing becomes more transparent. They can also collectively bargain for better prices.”

Human Rights Watch, and East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project today expressed concern over the apparent lack of serious police investigations in the state of Kenya. The situation is even more evident when it comes to the case of violent attacks against rights activists.

Okiya Omtatah Okoiti, a prominent human rights activist, has been attacked on the evening of November 9, 2012. The executive director of Kenyans for Justice and Development (KEJUDE) Trust, a local NGO that advocates for transparency and accountability, was attacked by two unidentified men in central Nairobi. He lost six teeth and suffered serious injuries to his face and the back of his head, which required surgery. Omtatah told Human Rights Watch that the attackers demanded that he withdraw a lawsuit he filed to demand accountability in the procurement of biometric voter registration (BVR) kits because of the corruption associated with the process.

“This vicious attack was clearly meant not just to intimidate Omtatah but to seriously injure him – and perhaps even to kill him,” said Leslie Lefkow, deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “The aim seems to be to stop his work on corruption in the procurement of biometric voter registration kits for the upcoming elections.”

“Omtatah has been the sole voice of concern in the problematic biometric voter kit procurement process,” said Henry Maina, director of ARTICLE 19 Eastern Africa. “The authorities need to get to the bottom of the procurement process and protect Omtatah’s right to seek the truth.”

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) is trying to introduce biometric voter registration kits to improve the election process in Kenya, as elections in 2007 were marked by controversy and violence, resulting in more than 1,000 deaths countrywide and causing more than 600,000 people to flee their homes. However, the process has been fraught with controversy, with allegations of bribery, influence peddling, and irregularities. Last July the commission’s tender committee resigned to protest what it called external influences on the process and the IEBC.

The lowest bidder in the BVR tender, 4G Identity Solutions of India, was disqualified in August 2012. The  CEO, Sreeni Tripuraneni, said that the company was being punished for refusing to pay 30 million Kenyan shillings in bribes to senior officials in Kenya’s Foreign Affairs Ministry. In September 2012 the IEBC cancelled the tender altogether, prompting an inquiry by a parliamentary committee. The IEBC Chairman, Isaack Hassan, told the committee that his commission had come “under immense pressure from external interests” who sought to influence the tender.

After the cancellation of the tender the Kenyan government took over the procurement process amid protests from some civil society groups about possible manipulation and implications for the independence of IEBC.

Omtatah’s KEJUDE and other civil society groups have raised concerns about the rising costs – from an initial 3.9 billion Kenyan shillings for 9,750 BVR kits under the IEBC to 9.6 billion Kenyan shillings for 1,500 BVR kits when the government took over. Omtatah went to court to stop the process over the alleged corruption. He filed detailed documents in court that appeared to show that Kenya would lose up to 4 billion Kenyan shillings in the deal.

“Omtatah has been keeping the IEBC on its toes and, together with others, making sure the process is transparent and fair,” Maina said. “In the end, the credibility of Kenya’s electoral process is at stake.”

“The authorities must investigate this vicious attack and bring those responsible to justice,” said Hassan Shire, executive director of East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project. “Activists need to be able to carry their work without the fear of violent repercussions.”

“Today, Kenya’s Minister of State for Defence assured me that the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) would do everything possible to minimize the impact of their ongoing military operation on civilians,” the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, Mark Bowden, said in a news release.

“The Minister also told me that the KDF would help ensure humanitarian access to all people in need,” Bowden added after his meeting.

The humanitarian official had met earlier Wednesday with Kenya’s Minister of State for Defence, Mohamed Yusuf Haji, and its Chief of Defence Forces, General Julius W. Karangi, to discuss the protection of civilians during ongoing military operations near Somalia’s southern port city of Kismayo.

Despite recent advances in Somalia’s peace and national reconciliation process, after decades of warfare, the African nation is still dealing with the impact of the Al Shabaab militant group, which has been pushed out of capital, Mogadishu, but still controls parts of Somalia, primarily in its south-central regions, including Kismayo.

In addition, UN humanitarian agencies and their partners have been helping Somalis deal with the impact of drought, as well as the after-effects of famine in some areas; while famine was officially declared over earlier this year, many Somalis are still in desperate need.

Along with Somali Government troops, the UN-backed African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) – under which Kenyan military forces in the country now serve – has been engaged in an intense offensive against the Al Shabaab, making inroads in some of the areas surrounding the capital. According to an AMISOM news release issued on Wednesday, troops from its Kenyan contingent have captured a string of towns leading to Kismayo.

Following reports of Al Shabaab militants fleeing the port city, AMISOM has called for calm among Chimayo’s residents, with its Deputy Force Commander stating that the African Union force’s objective is “to liberate the people of Kismayo to enable them to lead their lives in peace, stability and security.”

The Deputy Force Commander also appealed to humanitarian agencies to come to the aid of the people fleeing Al Shabaab-controlled areas, and said that AMISOM troops “stand ready to facilitate any efforts to ease the suffering of the population.”

In his news release, Bowden noted that while humanitarian actors remain neutral and strictly independent of military and political processes, they rely on all sides to gain access to those in need.

“I welcome Kenya’s assurances and reiterate my call for all parties to the conflict to make every effort to minimize the impact of conflict on civilians and to allow full humanitarian access to all people in need,” the humanitarian official said.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the number of Somalis receiving life-saving aid has more than doubled since July 2011, when famine had been declared, with more than 1.6 million Somalis now receiving food assistance, and 1.7 million people able to access clean water.

“Impressive GDP growth rates in Africa have not translated into the elimination of hunger and malnutrition,” said the Administrator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), Helen Clark, at the launch of the report in Nairobi. “Inclusive growth and people-centred approaches to food security are needed.”

With more than one in four of its 856 million people undernourished, Sub-Saharan Africa remains the world’s most food-insecure region. There are more than 15 million people at risk of malnutrition in its Sahel region alone – stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea – and an equal number in the Horn of Africa remain vulnerable after last year’s food crisis in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia.

UNDP’s Africa Human Development Report 2012: Towards a Food Secure Future stresses that action on agriculture alone will not be enough to eliminate hunger, and new approaches will have to include the improvement of health services and agricultural infrastructure, as well as giving a greater voice to the poor through strengthened local governments and civil society groups.

“Building a food-secure future for all Africans will only be achieved if efforts span the entire development agenda,” Miss Clark said at the report’s launch, which was attended by Kenya’s President Mwai Kibaki. The report is the first in UNDP’s Human Development Report series which focuses specifically on Africa.

It underlines that food insecurity should not be prevalent in a continent that has been experiencing high rates of economic growth and improvements in life expectancy and schooling in recent years.

“It is a harsh paradox that in a world of food surpluses, hunger and malnutrition remain pervasive on a continent with ample agricultural endowments,” said the Director of UNDP’s Africa Bureau, Tegegnework Gettu, in a news release.

While acknowledging that there are no quick fixes, the report emphasizes that food security can be achieved through immediate action in four critical areas. These include increasing agricultural productivity of smallholder farmers; boosting nutrition by expanding access to health services, education and clean water; implementing social programmes that protect farmers against natural disasters and conflict; and giving women and marginalized groups access to land and technology.

“The impressive economic growth which much of the continent has been recording must now be accompanied by decisive action to improve food security and nutrition,” UNDP’s Helen Clark said. “Growth divorced from advances in human development does little for people, and without advances in human development, countries cannot meet their full potential either.”