Over 7,000 people have disappeared from their homes in Amhara Regional State, a study shows.
The study was undertaken from June to December in eight zones, 89 districts, and 945 kebeles of the Amhara Regional State, including Dessie, Waghimera, Oromia Special Zone, North Shewa, North and South Gondar, and North and South Wello. A door-to-door survey was conducted by 4,500 professionals from 10 universities.
Hence, pragmatic research was done from June to December 2021, to uncover damage and destruction scientifically.
The missing civilians were reported based on tips from their families and friends. The study also found that 292 billion birr worth of property was destroyed, 240,000 people suffered injuries, and 29 men were sexually assaulted.
The Amhara Region War Affected Areas Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Fund Office (ARRFO), which started in July 2022, is working for recovery in the Amhara region, according to Abate Getahun (PhD), general manager at the office.
Many experts, including those from the Amhara Public Universities Forum, the Ethiopian Statistics Service (ESS), the Amhara Scholars Council and other relevant regional government institutions, participated in assessing, conducting and supporting the research work on the destruction and human harm.
The study used the census method. Subsequently, ranges of quantifiable data were collected from the entire population at the household and sectoral levels and analyzed accordingly via mixed research methods.
The regional government is currently planning to mobilize resources by organizing campaigns from federal and regional government, non-governmental organization, privates and investors, according to Abate.
Virtually all freed up areas of the Amhara region were included in the study, except Wolkait, where the study is ongoing, and districts and Kebeles, which are still under the invading forces.
The Tigray forces damaged 31 hospitals, 1156 schools, five teacher colleges, three federal public universities, 3476 agricultural institutions, 850 industries, 1775 investments, and various scale business centers, enterprizes, and infrastructure.
