Eastern Africa Drought Humanitarian Report No. 4

I. HIGHLIGHTS/KEY PRIORITIES

• Conditions in the drought-affected areas in the region have led to increased numbers in need. Ethiopia’s population in need increased from 3.2 to 4.5 million and Somalia’s from 2.5 to 2.85 million. Kenya’s main season assessment will conclude in August but planning figures indicate needs will rise from 2.4 to between 3 and 3.5 million. In Djibouti, an estimated 120,000 people require urgent assistance.

• The total population in need in the region is about 10.7 million people. This figure includes some 778,000 refugees hosted in Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti. Almost all the new refugees are from Somalia and are arriving in shocking health and nutritional conditions. More than 533,000 Somali refugees live in the region, mostly in neighbouring Kenya (423,000) and Ethiopia (150,000).

• Access to previously inaccessible areas in Somalia may be opening up but it will take time to ramp up operations even if assurances of humanitarian space from non-State actors are honoured.

• Good rains in Uganda and Burundi have reduced the estimates of need and this report will from now on only cover Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia. The situation in Eritrea is not independently verifiable due to lack of data.

• Out of the US$ 1.87 billion in humanitarian requirements for Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, only some 45 percent have been funded at mid-year, leaving a gap of about $1 billion.