Addis Ababa, December 29/2017 - UNICEF is mobilizing the international community to channel resources for emergency responses in Ethiopia for the New Year, National Disaster Risk Management Commission (NDRMC) disclosed.
In an exclusive interview with ENA, Senior Nutrition Expert Mekonnen Balcha said "UNICEF has been coordinating international partners to support emergency response in the coming New Year.”
Save the Children, Action against Hunger and World Vision, among others, are the major partners working with UNICEF.
Preparations are underway to facilitate fundraising as soon as the classification of hotspots is completed on prioritized Woredas of Oromia and Somalia regional states, Mekonnen explained.
“The hotspot classification, which identifies the number of children in need of emergency aid and the required finance, will be finalized this week and the overall assessment document is to be tabled to the Humanitarian Requirements Document (HRD) within a month,” the Senior Expert pointed out.
Analyzing pre-disaster mitigation information which comes from Woredas on conditions of rain, water resource, food aid, grazing and various hazards are also areas of engagement for UNICEF in Ethiopia, it was learned.
UNICEF Representative to Ethiopia, Gillian Mellsop said on her part, "We are leading the international community in emergency response for water sanitation and hygiene. UNICEF is engaged in the all drought affected areas."
The organization is particularly engaged in nutrition and supporting the government of Ethiopia on providing treatment for children with severe acute malnutrition, she noted.
According to Mellsop, UNICEF is working with all partners to ensure that children gain access to health and nutrition care, education, protection and safe water, sanitation and hygiene services during emergencies.
In line with the revised Inter-agency 2017 Humanitarian Requirements Document issued in August 2017, UNICEF Ethiopia increased its funding appeal to 135.9 million USD from 110.5 million USD to meet the increased humanitarian needs of children in the country.
Of this, 116.8 million USD is to respond to drought while the remainder is to assist the refugee response in the country.