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Ethiopia

Ethiopia Weekly Humanitarian Bulletin, 3 April 2017

Attachments

Key Issues

  • Stretched rainless season, frost damage to meher harvest, and below average spring rains in the current drought belt drive up humanitarian needs.

  • NDRMC anticipates an increase in the number of drought affected people in the coming months.

  • Ministry of Health deploys some 300 national health professionals to contain drought-induced disease outbreaks in Somali region.

  • Protection Cluster calls for prioritized services to the most vulnerable people in displacement sites

Back-to-back seasons of poor or non-existent rainfall in 2015, exacerbated by the strongest El Niño phenomenon on record in the same year, led to the worst drought in decades in Ethiopia in 2016. While the country continues to respond to residual needs from the past drought, below average rains in the southern and eastern parts of the country caused by the negative Indian Ocean Dipole have left 5.6 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in 2017. Some US$948 million is urgently required to respond to the new humanitarian needs.

NDRMC anticipates an increase in the number of drought-affected people

The National Disaster Risk Management Commission (NDRMC) stated that the number of people requiring humanitarian assistance might rise due to the worsening drought conditions in affected areas. The 2017 Humanitarian Requirements Document (HRD) identified some 5.6 million people in need of humanitarian assistance. However, a rapid assessment conducted in the drought-affected pastoralist areas revealed an increase in the number of beneficiaries. Stretched rainless season, frost damage to meher harvest, and below average spring/belg rains in the current drought belt are the main reasons for the anticipated increase in humanitarian need according to Mr. Mitiku Kassa, Commissioner of NDRMC. Mr. Mitiku noted that experts drawn from the federal and regional government are currently revising the beneficiary figure, which will be released soon.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources said farmers in spring/belg-receiving areas are conducting land preparation activities to capitalize on every drop of belg rain (mid-February-May) this year. According to local and international weather forecasts, the rains are expected to be normal to below normal. Some 1.6 million hectares of land have been cultivated so far. Given the late onset of the rains, farmers are cultivating short cycle crops - cereals, root crops and vegetables - according to the ministry.

Government deploying staff to Somali region to contain drought-induced disease outbreaks

Some 300 national health professionals drawn from the Federal Ministry of Health, Amhara, Harari and Tigray regions and Dire Dawa City Administration were deployed to Somali region to support the regional government’s Emergency Health Response Plan. The surge team will work together with the Regional Health Bureau and humanitarian partners to curb the ongoing drought-induced disease outbreaks in the region, including Acute Watery diarrhoea (AWD). New cases of AWD were registered in 37 woredas of Somali region in recent weeks. The Federal Ministry of Health together with the Regional Health Bureau and humanitarian partners is leading the health response from Jijiga, the capital of Somali region.

Protection Cluster calls for prioritized services to the most vulnerable in displacement sites

From 27 February to 6 March 2017, the Protection Cluster organized a support mission to Somali region to gauge the protection needs of displaced pastoralists in drought-hit areas. The mission visited settlement sites in Doolo and Jarar zones sheltering more than 70,000 internally displaced people (IDPs). The assessment revealed that shortage of water, the absence or insufficient distribution of Emergency Shelter and Non-Food Items. Also highlighted was the low reach of Mobile Health and Nutrition Teams, psychosocial distress, school dropout and the lack of targeted service to the most vulnerable groups.

The cluster recommended steps to address the identified gaps in service delivery, including prioritized service delivery to women and children. For further information contact: ocha-eth@un.org

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