China has promised donations worth 6 million U.S. dollars to support refugee aids in Somalia and Kenya via UN agencies.

China has inked agreement with the UN migration agency (IOM) for 1-million-dollar multi-sector assistance that will support IOM efforts to help internally displaced persons, vulnerable communities and returnees in Somalia.

A statement from IOM said the project, which will reach over 15,000 people, will support the UN and Somalia-backed 2017 Somalia Humanitarian Response Plan.

It will also provide lifesaving aid to vulnerable populations in areas affected by the ongoing drought and displacement.

"This contribution towards IOM's humanitarian programmes is another milestone in bilateral relations between IOM and China," IOM Director-General William Lacy Swing said.

The World Food Programme (WFP) on Tuesday also welcomed China's 5-million-U.S. dollar contribution to support 420,000 refugees living in camps in northern Kenya.

WFP's Country Director and Representative for Kenya Annalisa Conte said the funds from China and other countries will allow the UN food agency to resume full food rations to refugees from April to July.

"It is important that our donors continue to support this much-needed assistance for the refugees, especially when they are also vulnerable to the effects of the severe drought affecting the country," Conte said in a statement issued in Nairobi.

She lauded the critical contribution from China, saying WFP has struggled to provide adequate food to refugees living in camps in food-insecure northern Kenya due to insufficient funds.

WFP was in December 2016 forced to make new cuts by 50 percent in food rations for refugees in Kenya amid a severe funding shortage as the UN agency rapidly ran out of resources to feed mainly Somali and South Sudan refugees in the two camps.

However, WFP said in April that new contributions from Canada (2.2 million dollars), China (5 million dollars), Germany (2.7 million dollars as part of a multi-year contribution), Japan (2.2 million dollars), Sweden (1 million dollars), and Britain (5.1 million dollars as part of a multi-year contribution) enabled it to resume full rations.

According to Kenyan laws, refugees can not work outside the refugee camps and with limited sources of income, they are heavily dependent on WFP for food.

The Chinese contribution has enabled WFP to buy 9,000 tonnes of cereals, the main staple in the food basket.
Chinese Ambassador in Kenya Liu Xianfa said Beijing has responded quickly to the appeals of the international community for support to all those affected by drought in Kenya and other African countries.