Highlights
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In 2017, Ethiopia was faced with drought, floods, conflict; and the continued influx of refugees.
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Between January and November 2017, 321,040 children received lifesaving treatment for severe acute malnutrition (SAM).
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483,701 medical consultations were provided through 49 UNICEF supported mobile health and nutrition teams. 188,671 consultations were received by children.
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UNICEF provided access to safe water for 2.4 million people affected by drought and displacement due to conflict.
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25,868 children were provided with psychosocial support in child friendly spaces and;
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163,337 children affected by emergencies accessed education.
SITUATION IN NUMBERS
8.5 million *
People in need of relief food assistance in the second half of 2017
376,000 *
Children in need of treatment for severe acute malnutrition in 2017
10.5 million *
Children in need of access to safe drinking water and sanitation services
1.9 million *
School-aged children in need of emergency school feeding and learning material assistance
1.696 million
Number of internally displaced people in Ethiopia** (64 % displaced due to conflict)
892,555
Registered refugees in Ethiopia
(UNHCR, December 2017)
*2017 HRD, mid-year review
** IOM briefing document, January 2018
Situation Overview and Humanitarian Needs
In 2017, Ethiopia was faced with drought, floods, conflict, continued influx of refugees and the return of 100,000 undocumented Ethiopian migrants from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The humanitarian situation remained serious throughout the year as people were internally displaced, particularly in the southern and south-eastern regions of the country.
Towards the end of the year, conflict on the Oromia and Somali regional borders further increased the number of the internally displaced and compounded the needs of those already experiencing the impact of drought. The regions of Oromia, Somali and Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' (SNNP) regions have been the worst affected. With deteriorating conditions, children have faced significant threats to their survival, development and protection. Food insecurity and untreated and scarce water resources have fuelled rates of severe acute malnutrition among children, cases of Acute Watery Diarrhoea (AWD), scabies and measles. Children have dropped out of school, because their families could not afford to send them or schools closed due to conflict. Children’s vulnerability to violence, exploitation and abuse has been further exasperated. Increased rates of child marriage, unaccompanied and separated children and child labour have been reported.
The Humanitarian Requirements Document (HRD) issued in January 2017 was revised in August 2017. According to the revised HRD, the number of people in need of humanitarian food assistance at the end of 2017 increased to 8.5 million people (from 5.6 million in January 2017). It was projected that by the end of 2017, around 3.6 million moderately malnourished children and pregnant and lactating mothers required supplementary feeding and 376,000 children required treatment for Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM); 10.5 million people required access to safe drinking water and appropriate sanitation services. An estimated 6.3 million people required health assistance and 1.9 million school-aged children were targeted for school feeding; and the provision of school materials to continue their education. The financial requirements to meet these needs increased from US$949 million at the beginning of 2017 to US$1.259 billion by August and US$1.4 billion by October 2017. To determine the humanitarian needs in 2018, government-led multi agency needs assessments were conducted from 18 November to 13 December 2017 and have estimated that between 5 to 7 million people will require food support in 2018. The HRD (in draft) currently costs the humanitarian requirements for 2018 at US$1 billion for all food and non-food sectoral requirements. The IOM-led displacement tracking matrix (DTM) Round 8 reports that, as of November 2017, there were nearly 1.7 million internally displaced people (IDPs) in Ethiopia. Drought, conflict and floods were primary causes of displacement. The majority are in the Somali region (806,913 people) and Oromia region (772,242 people) and of these totals 519,651 individuals in Oromia and 408,933 individuals in Somali were displaced in 2017. Although a humanitarian response is ongoing, it is widely considered insufficient and under resourced.
Ethiopia is host to the second largest refugee population in Africa, sheltering 892,555 registered refugees and asylum seekers as of 31 December, 2017; 58 per cent of whom are children. Since January 2017, 109,851 refugees arrived in Ethiopia, mainly from South Sudan (over 75,400), Eritrea (over 25,200) and Somalia (6,700), putting additional pressure on already over extended social services in host communities. In October 2017, the Government of Ethiopia started registering vital events of the refugee population and on 28 November 2017, launched the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework that promotes out-of-camp support to refugees and supports their integration into host communities to sustain peaceful co-existence.