The Government of Ethiopia, together with aid agencies, have made a call for the international community to provide food and non-food humanitarian assistances to the tune of USD 1.341 billion to help 8.3 million people affected by drought and inter-communal conflicts.
According to a statement released by the Office of the Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs (OHCA) this week, the 2019 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) targets 8.3 million people with emergency food and non-food assistance at a cost of “USD 1.314 billion”, (while the National Disaster Risk Management Commission (NDRMC) insists its USD 1.341 billion) including some 3.19 million internally displaced persons (IDP’s).
Debebe Zewde, communications director with the National Disaster Risk Management Commission (NDRMC), said that the stated humanitarian assistance is required to arrive and reach the victims in time. The stated amount is a requirement that will last until June, this year. In fact, the monetized humanitarian assistance was based on a need assessment and is calculated accordingly, as it will cover requirements from early on January this year. In general, USD 1.341 billion is a six month humanitarian aid needed to reach 5.5 million drought victims together with 2.8 million IDPs across the country. The Latest figures UN aid agencies have on IDPs show that it has reached 3.19 million.
According to Debebe, the government has allocated USD 346 million. Currently, aid and humanitarian assistances are channeled through the collaborative efforts of the World Food Program (WFP), the network of local and international NGOs and the NDRMC.
In many parts of stations where IDPs are sheltered, both emergency operations centers and incidence command centers have been created to closely monitor and follow-up how aid is reaching those in need.
Medical, sanitary and hygienic supports and the availability of water is also being coordinated. However, there is a significant supply shortages reported. Medical personnel’s and medicines have been deployed yet their numbers are way too low to meet the demands. In addition to these hardships, both aid workers and IDPs have to worry about the likely occurrence of communicable diseases since the midyear rains started pouring across many of the Southern and Oromia regions where larger number of IDPs are sheltered in poor conditions.
