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Ethiopia

Ethiopia Humanitarian Bulletin Issue #10 | 03 – 16 June 2019

Attachments

HIGHLIGHTS

New drought condition caused by the failure of 2019 spring rains in the Horn of Africa region leaves an estimated 3.8 million people in southeastern Ethiopia in need of immediate life-saving and livelihood interventions from June-September 2019.

The UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) allocates US$10 million to kickstart drought impact mitigation efforts in south-eastern Ethiopia.
More than 1.3 million IDPs have reportedly returned to their places of origin during the first phase of the Government’s Strategic Plan to Address Internal Displacement and a costed Recovery/ Rehabilitation Plan that was launched on 8 April 2019.

WFP’s plan to distribute cash transfers to 116,000 people in Moyale and Hudet woredas of the Dawa zone in round 2, will allow beneficiaries, particularly the IDPs, to purchase cereals that are available in local markets and provide the means for targeted households to have access to preferred and diverse food items.

A four-year (2019-2022) inter-agency partnership in place to strengthen the socio-economic enabling environments of communities that host different forcibly displaced populations to ensure sustainable decent work, training and education opportunities for host communities.

Government-led Multi-agency belg needs assessment will start from June 22 in 25 zones. “The needs are huge amongst which is shelter. The makeshift shelters are not completely rain proof, which is a challenge when it rains. The Government is currently providing some iron sheets to reconstruct our houses, but it is not enough,” says Halima Abdalla,Darera, from IDP return site. current drought impact.

Horn of Africa drought impacts some 3.8 million people in southeastern Ethiopia

New drought condition caused by the failure of 2019 spring and the forecast of failing fall rains in the Horn of Africa region will leave an estimated 3.8 million people in southeastern Ethiopia in need of immediate lifesaving and livelihood interventions from June-September 2019 according to FEWS NET. The drought impacts most parts of Somali region, lowland pastoral areas of Oromia, SNNP, and parts of Afar regions. The 2019 spring (mid-February-May) rains were overall late and sub-optimal in almost all spring rain-receiving areas, delaying crop planting as well as pasture regeneration and replenishment of water sources.

Reports of water shortages and deteriorating livestock body conditions and livestock deaths for lack of pasture and water are increasing. The current drought is further impacting the already dire food security and nutritional conditions of communities, particularly in lowland pastoralist and agro-pastoralist areas. Predicted below average rains (by the National Meteorological Agency) in the 2019 summer (JuneSeptember) in the region, mostly southeastern Somali region situates communities to suffer two consecutive dry seasons. The majority of farmers and herders in Ethiopia are dependent on rain and are vulnerable to strong climate variations.

CERF allocates US$10 million to kickstart drought impact mitigation efforts in south-eastern Ethiopia

On 5 June 2019, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mr. Mark Lowcock, allocated US$45 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to immediately scale up programs that effectively mitigate food and nutrition assistance, safe water provision, livelihoods protection and other urgent humanitarian support to drought-affected people across parts of Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya. Of this funding envelope, $10 million is allocated for Ethiopia. “We need to move to a system where we act much earlier on the warning signs of drought and hunger so that we can cut response times and costs and reduce deaths and human suffering,” said Mr. Lowcock during the CERF announcement. Mr. Aeneas Chuma, United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Ethiopia said, “Food insecurity is expected to peak between June and October, with more than half of the population in affected areas estimated to face crisis level of food insecurity, calling for urgent action to put in place measures to mitigate the worst of the drought impact”. Appreciating the timeliness of CERF’s financial contribution to Ethiopia’s new drought response, Mr. Chuma noted, “if we don’t respond quickly, the humanitarian context is bound to quickly deteriorate, leading to unnecessary suffering, a costlier humanitarian operation and loss of development gains.” Meanwhile, a prioritized Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan (EPRP) prepared by the Somali region, targeting 1.27 million people across all 11 zones, seeks US$20.7 million to mainly address the current drought impact.

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