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Ethiopia + 2 more

UNICEF Ethiopia Humanitarian Situation Report #11 – Reporting Period: November 2018

Attachments

Highlights

▪ UNICEF and the Federal Ministry of Health have validated Acute Malnutrition Guidelines that revise the Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) for Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) from 11.0 to 11.5 cm. The change will have a significant impact on reported SAM cases in 2019.

▪ In collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF supported a yellow fever vaccination campaign from 16-23 November in nine woredas of Wolayita and Gamo Gofa zones in Southern Nations, Nationalities Peoples’ region reaching over 1.5 million people.

▪ As 2018 comes to an end, the Ethiopian Humanitarian and Disaster Resilience Plan (HDRP) remains substantially underfunded while the needs of conflict displaced populations remain critical. Conflict displacement is expected to continue through 2019.

Situation Overview and Humanitarian Needs

As 2018 comes to an end the Humanitarian and Disaster Resilience Plan (HDRP) remains critically underfunded1 . While, in-kind food commodities have been secured to provide a standard food basket for those in need until the end of the year, there are no new provisions to support recent conflict displacements.

Reports from the Disaster Risk Management Technical Working Group highlight renewed violence between the Gebra and Garre communities in Moyale town which have left 15,000 people displaced and a considerable number crossing the border into Kenya. Renewed conflict on the border of the Oromia region and Benishangul- Gumuz has displaced an estimated 250,000 people. An Operational Plan, costed at US$ 21 million, has been drafted to secure a multi-sectoral response to internally displaced persons (IDP) and host community needs. Significant security concerns have largely prevented assessment teams and humanitarian actors from accessing IDPs. The regional governments have delivered, under military escort, a limited quantity of health and nutrition supplies, as well as food by helicopter.

Ethiopia is faced with renewed influx of refugees into the Gambella region as sporadic reports of conflict continue in many border regions of South Sudan. Reports from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) indicate that 1,0242 new arrivals were recorded in November at the Pamdong Reception Centre, which is a significant increase on the monthly averages of 80 reported this year. The new arrivals are citing family reunification as a motivating factor for voluntarily leaving the protection of civilian sites in South Sudan and crossing over into Gambella. Gambella region hosts more than 400,000 refugees from South Sudan, accounting for over 44 per cent of refugees in the country.