ReliefWeb

HIGHLIGHTS

801,079
Number of refugees registered in the country

8,085
Number of refugees newly registered in January

129,561
Number of refugee youth in the country

43,061
Number of unaccompanied and separated children

WORKING WITH PARTNERS

• The Administration for Refugee and Returnee Affairs (ARRA) is UNHCR’s main government counterpart with which close cooperation is maintained to ensure the protection of refugees in Ethiopia.

• UNHCR is fully engaged in coordination fora to mainstream the needs of refugees within humanitarian and national plans. These coordination mechanisms include the UN Country Team, the Humanitarian Country Team, the Refugee Task Force, and donor, NGO and inter-agency meetings at the national, field and camp levels. This has ensured an effective coordination environment in the context of the Level 3 Emergency for South Sudanese refugees as well as the development of a regional response plan for the same situation in 2017.

• The number of new arrivals from Somalia has shown a marked increase at the beginning of 2017, with a total of 3,062 people crossing the border through Dollo Ado between 1 and 31 January 2017. UNHCR, ARRA and partners are responding to the needs of the new arrivals, 2,922 of whom have been registered as refugees and relocated to existing shelters in Bokolmanyo, Hilaweyn, Kobe and Melkadida camps. Some 140 individuals await registration at the reception Centre and subsequent relocation to the camps. The new arrivals, mostly originating from the Bay, Middle Juba and Gedo regions, report to have fled conflicts, exacerbated by food insecurity in Somalia. 72% of those already registered are children whilst 88% are women and children.