( dpa ) - Urgent food and other relief supplies intended to help thousands of people uprooted in Kenya remained trapped in the capital Nairobi, the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR said Friday.
Demonstrations had prevented the planned convoys heading north- west to Eldoret and Nakuru where they were to provide assistance for 1,000 families, spokesman William Spindler said speaking in Geneva. He said it was not clear when the convoys would resume.
Violence on the streets of the capital has spread to other major cities in the wake of the disputed December 27 elections which the opposition Orange Democratic Movement claims were rigged.
The UN claims around 500,000 people are in need of emergency assistance.
UNICEF said the situation was worsening and violence was taking place in the camps set up for the displaced. They put the number of people forced from their homes at 300,000 who were now located in 300 different places.
"Cases of rape have been reported and there is an increasing amount of other sexual violence," UNICEF spokeswoman Veronique Taveau said.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) had dealt with 150 cases of children separated from their families though 120 had now been reunited with relatives simply by using the organization's mobile telephones, it said.