Pool Reports by Emily Goodin, Daily Mail
| Sent: | Reports: |
| February 26, 2023 12:55 EAT |
FLOTUS travel pool #1 - departure for Kajiado county Motorcade departed for Kajiado county at 7:51 am. Dr. Biden is visiting the village of Lositeti - a drought response site to highlight the impacts of drought relief. Note the drive time is about three hours and we are not expected to have cell service on the ground there. On Thursday, the pool got a background briefing on this visit from two senior administration officials and representatives from USAID, World Food Program and UNOCHA. Thanks to Fox News' Tara Prindiville for sharing her audio and notes: From senior administration official one on the community FLOTUS is visiting: "The particular community that she will visit is currently in IPC three, which is crisis. What that means is that food consumption gaps are reflected at an above the usual level and resulting in acute malnutrition. Or that families and communities at a certain scale are very minimally able to meet food needs. And that's usually through depleting livelihood assets or other crisis coping strategies." More: "There is no part of Kenya that is in famine, so no part of Kenya is currently in famine. There is a portion -- a community in Somalia that is currently in famine. But there are no communities that are currently in famine in Kenya." More: "It could go in the direction but there's still efforts to avert famine. So a lot of what the UN is doing, NGOs, governments, through providing funding resources, is investing in activities and interventions, such as what you'll see tomorrow as a way to avert further food insecurity in communities." More: "Dr. Biden will be going specifically to showcase the -- what I would say is the human impact of climate change. So the very direct impact on communities who have significantly more needs than they had and that is because directly derived from the drought. So she really is going to raise awareness to urge others in the international community, our partners, international organizations to do more. and as my colleague noted, to try to do more early because that the consequences on communities does not have to be so catastrophic." More: "Dr. Biden has, you know, appreciation for these issues, given she's seen it firsthand in her previous trip to Kenya. This of course, is different because as we've noted, this is now the worst drought. And that's, you know, unfortunately the time between her previous trip and now, we've had another notable worst drought at 2016-17. So yes, I mean, it did play a role in factoring in to bring more attention to this because earlier efforts can mean that communities are better served." Pool note: Dr. Biden visited the Daadab refugee camp during her 2011 visit to Kenya. Asked why FLOTUS was not going there again, senior administration official one: "We're not going to Dadaab for a range of reasons, including the security context." Senior administration official two: "The reason why we're going to Kajiado is to look at communities where there's still the opportunity to try and mitigate the effects of some of this." More: "We want to be able to catch the problem earlier, so these families don't have as much trouble recovering and being able to be more resilient in the long term. So we're selecting this community in particular for that reason. Samantha Power from USAID was in Turkana region, which is an IPC four last July. So she was able to show what that looks like. We're trying to show a different dimension of the drought at a different stage to be able to tell a more fulsome story about actually how we mitigate the effects of these catastrophic compounding impacts." Asked if the war in the Ukraine has been a drain on sponsorship from other countries, senior administration official two: "Absolutely, that's part of the reason why this has been so challenging at this moment, because there's so much going to Ukraine and now the draw for Syria and Turkey, also being another giant sucking sound, that this, this is yet another crisis in East Africa that it's starting to become sort of normalized ... This is now so much exponentially worse, but we have these other draws that we are having trouble -- that's part of the reason why we're looking for more donor assistance, because the resources from other parts of the globe, certainly our European colleagues are looking first to Ukraine." The first senior administration official listed the five causes of food insecurity: downstream effects of covid, climate change and drought conditions, subsequent loss in livelihood as many use agriculture as their source of income, economic inflation raising food prices, and the high cost of fertilizer. The official noted that 800 million people - about 1/8 of the global population - don't know where their next meal is coming from. That includes 14 million in the The Horn of Africa, also known as the Somali Peninsula - Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia "We've not seen this level of global hunger in quite some time," the official said. The USAID representative noted that droughts have gone from about every seven years in the Horn of Africa to about every three and they are getting more severe. Additionally, plagues of locus, the covid pandemic, and the war in the Ukraine have led to a series of "compound shocks that don't allow people to recover." This situation has "exceeded people's capacity to cope." The USAID rep noted that the United States has put $370 million in Kenya for food insecurity (that includes cash payments to people so they can buy food) and is spending about $400 million in developmental assistance. There are a lot of secondary effects they are seeing - children aren't getting enough food in their youth to develop properly and pregnant women don't get enough to eat to healthy babies. "We've also seen an increase in preventable diseases like diarrhea, measles color and the like. And then for some of the more chronic conditions, people with HIV or cancer, they often don't have enough food to take their medication," the USAID representative said. Drought conditions have led to increased violence against women and families selling girls as young as 11 into marriage. "We've also seen an increase in human wildlife conflict. And what that means is both the wildlife elephants, zebras, hyenas, etc. are also fighting over the same water and food that people need," the USAID representative said. The UNOCHA representative: "So when Dr. Biden was here in 2011, that was two failed seasons. To put that into context, when we went to 2016-17, the next worst drought in recent history, it was three failed seasons. We are now at five and we will go to six in just a month's time. So I really want to stress that what we are seeing in this region is unprecedented and it is a consequence of the global climate crisis." More: "I want to be crystal clear. The US contribution to this response has been phenomenal. And it has been singular. In Kenya, the US accounts for about 75% of the funding for this entire humanitarian response. In Somalia, it's nearly 70% for the drought response. In Ethiopia, likewise." More: "We cannot go into 2023 with the United States alone stepping up. We need other countries around the world. We recognize they are faced with a multitude of things, cost of living crisis, Ukraine war, everything else but if those countries don't step up, we will see more deaths in this region. And in 2023, nobody in the world should be drying -- dying from drought." More: "We've basically seen a doubling of the appeals as the drought has gone on because the drought continues to deepen and one of the mistakes made by the international community in 2022 was that the funding came late. And this year, we're seeing the same dynamic. If the funding doesn't come through in the -- in this first quarter really, ahead of the next failed rain, we are going to be constantly playing catch up in this response and that is not where we should be." Pool note: The briefing happened in bits and pieces. It started in person at the embassy but was cut short when FLOTUS made an unscheduled stop to visit the August 7th Memorial Park to honor the lives lost at the 1998 embassy bombing in Nairobi. It then continued on the press bus and via phone. If anyone needs more details, audio or quotes please reach out. Additionally here is information from USAID on the drought situation in Kenya: https://www.usaid.gov/humanitarian-assistance/kenya And from the World Food Program: https://www.wfp.org/countries/kenya The East Wing also provided this background information: BACKGROUND FOR DROUGHT SITE VISIT The First Lady will travel to Kajiado county to visit a drought response site to highlight the impacts of drought on communities in Kenya. The Horn of Africa is experiencing historic drought, which, compounded by the impacts of climate change and Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine, has increased food insecurity and threatened livelihoods across the region. The First Lady will be joined by:
Additional background (Attributable to a Senior Administration Official) Global Food Crisis: Currently, there is a global food security crisis of unprecedented proportions. Over 828 million people in the world currently don't know where their next meal is coming from. There are some core drivers of this crisis which, especially when compounded with one another, are severely impacting communities around the world.
These compounded factors have pushed vulnerable communities further into poverty, forcing many to turn to negative coping mechanisms and consequential secondary effects such as pulling children out of school to find income-generating activities and increased gender-based violence and early marriage. Impacts in the Horn of Africa: The Horn of Africa is experiencing the worst drought in at least 7 generations. It's a primary driver of food insecurity in the Horn of Africa, but, in countries such as Somalia, when drought it compounded with conflict, it is deadly and it also poses challenges for aid workers to reach communities in need. Between early 2022 and early 2023, the number of people who are food insecure in the Horn of Africa doubled – from 13 million people in early 2022 to 22 million in early 2023. IPC Classification: The international community, including the United Nations, non-governmental organizations, and many governments, use theIntegrated Phase Classification to determine the severity of food emergencies. Currently, no part of the Horn of Africa is in famine. However, there is one county in Somalia which is at catastrophic level, meaning the risk of famine is high. Last fall, when severe drought increased food insecurity and threatened livelihoods in the Horn of Africa, the international community mobilized resources to support humanitarian organizations and provide critical services to communities in need. However, the risk of famine has returned. Because famine is man-made, early interventions and support for resilience programs can avert further food insecurity and famine. Kajiado County U.S. Government Actions The U.S. Government has contributed $12 billion to the global food crisis and $2.5 billion specifically to the Horn of Africa in Fiscal Year 2022. BACKGROUND FROM USAID Key impacts of the drought in Kajiado
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| February 26, 2023 12:58 EAT |
FLOTUS travel pool #2 - Lositeti arrival Motorcade arrived at Lositeti at 10:58 am. Drive was uneventful but scenic. In Nairobi a lot of people stopped to watch the motorcade. Cows grazed along the highway (this was in Nairobi). Over the three hour drive, motorcade passed several dry creek beds. There were several small towns where crowds lined the street to wave. Many of these towns consisted of a dozen or so buildings made of metal sheets. Lots of cattle, sheep, donkeys and goats were spotted on the drive. The cows in particular were notably thin with their ribs showing. Towns became more sparse as the drive went on. The surrounding landscape is very dry with barely any green. There are small shrub-like bushes and trees and dry grass. There were also several large piles of dirt that were termite mounds. Pool was told termites made up the bottom layer of the mound and snakes lived on top of them. Pool was advised not to touch. In the latter half of the drive, motorcade had to slow down twice for a group of cattle crossing the road. Motorcade had paved highway for the majority of the drive except the last 20 minutes, which was down a bumpy dirt road. Dirt kicked up around the vehicles, which slowed to a crawl due to the road conditions. Many locals were on motorbikes. The village is near the border with Tanzania. Mount Kilimanjaro was visible in the distance before we turned onto the dirt road. Motorcade had to stop at one point on the dirt road to let goats by. Later, a little boy, holding a staff to heard cows with a couple of puppies at his side, waved to the vehicles. About halfway down the dirt road, the three press SUVs lost sight of the rest of the motorcade due to bumpy road conditions (which required slow driving) and two donkeys who joined in by walking on the road before finally moving to the side. Press SUVs caught up before Lositeti arrival. As we approached the village, a group of school kids - Both boys and girls - lined one side of the road singing and dancing. There were at least 75 dressed in a combo of soccer shirts and school uniforms. An unscheduled bathroom stop was made about halfway through the drive, lasting about 20 minutes. Co-pooler Jada Yuan spotted FLOTUS chatting with Naomi Biden and Ambassador Meg Whitman. Note we are in an usually large motorcade for FLOTUS. Pool counted 35 vehicles, which includes an ambulance. Vehicles are smaller SUVs due to the terrain of where we are going. More tk on actual visit ... |
| February 26, 2023 15:51 EAT |
FLOTUS travel pool #3 - Kajiado visit FLOTUS stepped out of her vehicle at 11:02 and was welcomed by a local dance performance - a Loisoit women group. The name of the song danced to: "God's Doing." They were dressed in a variety of colors - long tunic type outfits and beautiful beaded necklaces in a variety of hues. Singers and dancers surrounded Biden as a red scarf was placed over her left shoulder. Ambassador Meg Whitman also received. It is a traditional clothing item worn by the Maasai people. FLOTUS was also given a beaded necklace to wear which are made by the Maasai to represent their culture. She had on blue jacket, white shirt, kakhi pants and sneakers. FLOTUS arrived at spot in the village where the local church stands. Pool was told Sunday is a good day to set up the health outreach tents as many people go to church on Sunday, meaning the area is crowded. Additionally Lositeti is the location for the only water for a radius of 25 miles, per George Ombis of USAID, so it is a popular spot. He said parents can bring their children to the outreach center to be screened for malnutrition - "the rates of which are going up and up and up." There was a series of six tents set up by the church, which is the outreach center. Down from the tents was a water trough. It is attached to well operated by solar power, which Ombis said is crucial since that way they are not dependent on fuel. He said there is water but it is deep in the ground and needs to be brought up. "Everyone is crowding in here - bringing their animals and their children. And that, of course, is putting extra pressure on the community here," he noted. It was very dusty - lots of red dust blowing around in the wind. Flies were everywhere and on everyone. It was hard to see more of the village due to the huge crowd that had gathered to watch - about 500 people per an official. They formed a semi-circle around the area FLOTUS visited. It was very hot and sunny - in the 80s. The ground was red dirt with not much plant life. Small bushes and shrubs were further out but what was there was dry and sparse. Barely any shades of free. Cows were there along with a few dogs and goats but, again, not many. Ombis said half the livestock in the area have died. Dr. Biden spent about 90 minutes on the ground total. She only visited the immediate area around the church and the water trough. She visited the six stations at the outreach center and held a roundtable with local women under a tree outside the church. It was hard to hear many of FLOTUS interactions because we were outside and so many people had gathered around. Pooler thanks the entire pool for its help getting all these details: Washington Post's Jada Yuan, AP's Darlene Superville, VOA's Anita Powell and Fox News' Tara Prindiville, Chris Jimenez and Mike Monroe. George Ombis, the USAID / BHA East Africa Deputy Team Leader Humanitarian Assistance, guided FLOTUS at the outreach center. Outreach occurs every 2 weeks - operated by the county government with the support of World Vision, UN World Food Programme, and USAID. The first station is where children are weighed and it is determined what commodities are needed. A young girl, who looked younger than one, wearing a hot pink dress, sat on her mom's lap, sucking her thumb and staring at the crowd of photographers taking photos of Dr. Biden. FLOTUS greeted her when she came over. "You have such a pretty little dress. I love her dress." She introduced herself as Jill Biden from the United States. At the second station community members are weighed and measured to determine what commodities they need - they are shown foods they need and are checked for vitamin deficiency to determine if they are malnourished. Dr. Biden asked if people had access to the vegetables they were told they needed. She was told it is very difficult to get them. The third spot is where physicians meet with community members to do physicals and they have an opportunity to ask doctors about their health or any concerns they may have. There was a poster taped up reading Nutrition of Breastfeeding Mothers. FLOTUS talked about how she used to be board chair of Save the Children so she is familiar with the difficulties. The fourth station was a pharmacy, where medication is given and vaccinations are available, as well as family planning and reproductive health services. At that station there were two cold boxes. One labeled: Covid. The second was labeled: Routine Vacs Biden asked what other vaccines children received. It was hard to hear but it sounded like measles and cholera along with a few others. Then she was led down to a water trough. The trough was about 10 feet long and three-fourths of the way filled with water. Cows were grazing near it. She spoke with three Pastoralists: They talked to her about how livestock are dying and most people's livelihoods are tied to their animals. "So the whole society is going to have to find a new job," she said. Note: Naomi Biden was off to the side as these exchanges happened, watching what was going on. She wore a white shirt with a white shawl wrapped around neck At one point a goat wearing a bell ran up close to where the Pastoralists and FLOTUS were speaking. It bleated at them a few times. It then ran off. FLOTUS then did her rountable with local women, an aide worker, a few staff and a translator. The six Maasai women are all mothers and residents of Kajiado County: Nantitok Magdeline They were told by the aide worker that Dr. Biden is the First Lady who came from US to hear about drought conditions and it's effects on them. Biden: "I just want to thank you all for being here. For talking to me and to hear your challenges and, really, some of your joys." She asked many questions - how it compared to the drought in 2011, about food resources and what people eat, and how water was found for the well. She heard how maize is a staple to feed the children. She heard how many children want to go to school to learn a technical skill. At the end, she said: "I just want to say thank you for sharing your stories. ... You obviously need an aid. We need to convince other counties on how to increase aid." FLOTUS then gave a brief statement to the press: "Today we came to meet with people of this area. They talked about how their livestock are dying. Obviously, you can see the drought here, how bad it is. The water here feeds 12 villages and each village has approximately 1,000 to 1,200 people. So they are coming here, they are coming here to get water, they are bringing their livestock. But unfortunately for many of them their living comes from their livestock. And for most of them their live stock are dying. So they are having a hard time. Their children are malnourished. They cannot feed their children. They cannot afford to send their children to schools because there is a fee - not for the elementary school but for the older grades. So you can see - I mean the United States is providing 70 percent of the budget - the money coming into the region. We cannot be the only ones. We have to have other countries join us in this global effort to help these people of the region and, unfortunately, you know there is the war in Ukraine. There is the earthquake in Turkey. I mean there are a lot of competing interests but obviously here people are actually - livestock, people are starving." Ambassador Whitman then spoke: "Thank you. Well, first of all, Dr. Biden, thank you for coming to this region to highlight the issues that I think many people know about intellectually, but it's different when you just see it. And each of these women have taken children to the feeding stations that you saw earlier. They've been evaluated for malnutrition. We heard a story of a woman who thought her children were okay, she took them in, and all of them were diagnosed with malnutrition. And so they were able to partake in those sachets that you saw. So the aid that the United States is giving, that the rest of the world is contributing to, I would just underscore what Dr. Biden said, is that everyone needs to help as best we can here. Because this is going to continue for the foreseeable future. And, you know, this is very personal." Biden: "And thank you for shining a light on this problem. Because without you, you know, the world wouldn't see it. You are the voice. So you're an extension of their voices. So thank you, thanks for coming." Whitman: "And thank you to the United States government, for what the Bidens have led in terms of the aid that has come into the Horn of Africa and this country in the last 12 months." After her statement pool held in SUVS while FLOTUS did interviews with the Washington Post and CNN. While holding, two little boys climbed in to check it out. Many of the locals wandered around the motorcade to check out the line of vehicles. As pool was waiting near cars to leave the site, we met two women, wearing their finest traditional Maassi dresses. They'd brought their sons over to play in the open doors of Land Cruisers. They'd walked here from another village. Gladys Motete, 32, was four months pregant and had come here with her five-year-old son. Asked if she had been having issues with the drought, she said, "Very hard, it is very hard, because people, they have no food, they have no water" Alice Kirimi, 34, was holding the hand of her son Victor, who is 1.5 years old. She said, "We have no food, no water, and transport to the school, our school is a bit far from home." Further questions were cut short because of language barriers and because pool told to load in van. Pool was not in position to see FLOTUS get in her car. Motorcade rolled at 12:28 pm. On the dirt road headed back to the highway the motorcade slowed down so everyone could see a giraffe on the left side of the road, munching on leaves of a tree. Dr. Biden and Naomi Biden briefly got out of their car to look at the giraffe, per the East Wing. Pool was unable to make a movement up to her vehicle for the brief, impromptu stop. Motorcade is rolling back to Nairobi. It made another restroom stop. Pool caught a brief glimpse of FLOTUS and Naomi standing outside their vehicle. Also a correction to a quote from senior administration official one (who was quoted in pool report #2). Pooler missed a word. The quote should read: "There is no part of Kenya that is in famine, so no part of Kenya is currently in famine. There is a portion -- a community in Somalia that is currently experiencing famine like conditions.But there are no communities that are currently in famine in Kenya." There is no official declaration of famine anywhere in the Horn of Africa. Pooler regrets the error. |
| February 26, 2023 16:10 EAT |
FLOTUS travel pool #4 - arrive RON Motorcade arrived back at RON in Nairobi at 3:24 pm. Pool did not see FLOTUS exit her vehicle. |
| February 26, 2023 17:10 EAT |
FLOTUS travel pool #5 - departing Kenya Motorcade left RON at 4:04 pm and arrived at airport at 4:22 pm. FLOTUS met with Kenyan President William Ruto inside the airport. Naomi Biden boarded via the plane via the back entrance during this time. Jill Biden exited her vehicle at 4:46 pm. She hugged each member of her Africa advance team and took a pic with them. She has changed into white dress with blue butterflies and heels. A group of dancers and singers performed - men and women. Many wore head gear - green turbans, feathers, and red wraps. Many beat drums. Additionally a choir sang the Star Spangled Banner. First Lady Ruto came to see FLOTUS off on the tarmac. As did Ambassador Meg Whitman. FLOTUS hugged each of them. They went over to see the dancers for a moment. FLOTUS boarded the plane at 4:48 pm. She waved at the top. Also we have a new estimate for the crowd in Kajiado County to see FLOTUS: over 1,000 people per an official. Executive One Foxtrot is wheels up shortly. Next stop is Naples for a refuel. |
| February 26, 2023 specific time unknown |
FLOTUS travel pool #6 - Naples refuel Executive One Foxtrot was wheels up from Nairobi at 4:45 pm local time and landed at Naval Support Activity Naples at 9:54 pm. FLOTUS disembarked to greet military leadership. "Hi how are you," she said. She shook hands with each person and gave each her challenge coin. She received a coin in return. She also did a group photo. Greeters, per the East Wing 1. Captain James Stewart, Base Commanding Officer 2. Commander Steve Smith, Operations Officer Note: FLOTUS did an OTR with the pool on the tarmac. Pizza from Pizzeria La Notizia 53 was brought on board to be enjoyed by all. Stanley Tucci visited this pizzeria in his "Searching for Italy." At 11:03 pm, Executive One Foxtrot is wheels up shortly. Next stop is Shannon, Ireland, for another refuel. |
| February 27, 2023 specific time unknown |
FLOTUS travel pool #7 - Shannon refuel Executive One Foxtrot was wheels up from Naples at 11:18 pm and wheels down Shannon at 1:13 am. Staff, agents and pool disembarked during refueling. No FLOTUS sightings. At 2:41 am Executive One Foxtrot is wheels shortly. Next stop: USA. |
Jill Biden, First Lady Pool Reports of February 26, 2023 Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/359851