Attachments
Foreword
The year 2023 has seen both challenges and achievements for Ethiopia as a country and IOM Ethiopia as a mission.
Overlapping crises within and around the country have left it to grapple with large-scale displacement and humanitarian needs. An estimated 3.19 million Ethiopians were internally displaced as of December 2023, and thousands of Ethiopians have migrated last year, some driven by natural and human-made disasters, others by the lack of economic opportunities. Separately, over 13,000 migrant returnees were assisted from the eastern route.
IOM responded to multiple humanitarian crises across the country. Mid-2023 saw escalating conflict in Amhara region, stretching affected communities’ resilience and humanitarian response capacities. In addition, over 100,000 people fleeing conflict in Sudan arrived in Ethiopia in 2023, requiring immediate humanitarian assistance and protection. In Southern Ethiopia, severe floods followed devastating drought. As a result, IOM’s multi-sectoral humanitarian response supported over 3 million people across Ethiopia in 2023, both through direct implementation and local and national actors as part of IOM’s commitment to localization.
While humanitarian needs remained high, following the 2022 Pretoria Peace Agreement ending the Northern Ethiopia conflict, the context has become more conducive to a nexus approach. Ethiopia is one of 15 pilot countries under the Secretary General’s Action Agenda on Internal Displacement, which has brought with it a series of visits from the Office of the Special Advisor and a renewed emphasis on Durable Solutions. IOM, as part of joint UN efforts, has supported the Government of Ethiopia (GOE) in strengthening coordination frameworks, strategies, and action roadmaps, while implementing community-based durable solutions programming.
In 2023, IOM continued to support the GOE in effective migration governance. IOM and its governmental partners strengthened the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) for vulnerable migrants in Ethiopia and the National and Regional Partnership Coalitions to enhance coordination among multiple stakeholders and improve assistance and protection of vulnerable migrants.
Recognizing the urgency to strengthen community resilience against climate change, IOM further invested in mainstreaming environmental sustainability across programmes, such as through the solarization of water supply systems or sustainable livelihoods support. IOM also conducted research on the impact of climate change on migration trends and displacement in Ethiopia to inform context specific programming.
It is hard to believe that all these milestones were achieved in 2023, and this is thanks to the Ethiopian leadership and the close collaboration and support of our partners, including the Government, civil society, donors, private sector, UN sister agencies, and of course, the unwavering dedication of my colleagues in the mission. More work needs to be done, and we do not expect to slow down in 2024. IOM Ethiopia, together with its partners, will continue to focus on supporting people on the move, making sure that no one is left behind.