UNITED NATIONS, Jan.12 (Xinhua) -- With Somali refugees continuing to flood into Kenya for fleeing violence and drought, the United Nations emergency relief fund has decided to allocate 5million dollars to cover gaps in their nutritional needs, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) announced Tuesday.

    The grant from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) was issued following a request by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for additional funding in order to respond to the multiple needs of an estimated 230,000 Somalis, who are now sheltered in congested camps in Kenya's Northeastern Province Dadaad.

    Some of the camps are now three times their initial capacity, with thousands of new Somalis arriving each month, according to the UNHCR.

    More than 65,000 new Somali refugees entered Kenya in 2008 and the number is expected to continue rising because of the rapidly worsening security conditions in Somalia, OCHA said.

    Some of the funds, which will be allocated to the UNHCR and two other UN agencies, will also be used to support Sudanese refugees in the same Kenyan camps, according to OCHA.

    Last month, the UN and its partners launched a major appeal for some $913 million to help provide humanitarian assistance to an estimated 3.2 million needy people in Somalia during the coming year.

    The CERF, which now stands at 452.5 million dollars, was created by the UN General Assembly in 2006 to allow the world body quick access to funds that could save lives in sudden crises.