Eastern Africa: Humanitarian Snapshot (December 2020)

Conflict and violence in the Greater Horn of Africa continue to cause widespread displacement and drive humanitarian needs. In Ethiopia, conflict since early November in the Tigray Region has forcibly displaced tens of thousands of people internally, while more than 50,300 refugees have fled across the border into Sudan. In Sudan, pockets of violence in Darfur region, Kassala and Red Sea State earlier this year led to displacement and increased humanitarian needs. In South Sudan, fighting continues in multiple locations, especially in the Greater Equatoria region, while Jonglei experienced devastating sub-national violence earlier in 2020. Severe food insecurity (IPC 3 and above) is affecting at least 28.5 million people across Eastern Africa. Despite a slight improvement in recent months in line with seasonal trends, below-average rains are forecast through December 2020, together with substantial and widespread breeding of Desert Locusts—especially in eastern Ethiopia and central Somalia—which could jeopardize food security in the period ahead. In South Sudan, the Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) Global Support Unit has indicated that tens of thousands of people are likely to face famine conditions in Pibor county as people are experiencing a critical hunger situation with extreme depletion of livelihoods, insufficient food consumption and high acute malnutrition¹. At least 3.9 million people have been impacted by floods and landslides across large swathes of East Africa since June 2020. In Somalia, Cyclone Gati made landfall in Bari region of Puntland on 22 November, affecting 180,000 people of whom 42,100 were temporarily displaced. In Sudan, about 885,000 people were affected by the country’s worst floods in decades, with torrential downpours, landslides, flash and riverine flooding compounding the situation of people already struggling due to economic challenges.