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Ethiopia Weekly Humanitarian Bulletin, 9 January 2017

Countries
Ethiopia
Sources
OCHA
Publication date

Key Issues

  • Some 5.6 million people need urgent humanitarian assistance requiring US$922 million

  • The new hotspot classification identified 454 woredas as priorities for the first half of 2016

  • An estimated 2.8 million boys and girls received critical educational materials

Back-to-back seasons of poor or non-existent rainfall in 2015, exacerbated by the strongest El Niño phenomenon on record in the same year, led to the worst drought in decades in Ethiopia in 2016. While the country continues to respond to residual needs from the past drought, below average rains in the southern and eastern parts of the country caused by the negative Indian Ocean Dipole have has left 5.6 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in 2017. Some US$922 million is urgently required to respond to the new humanitarian needs.

Some 5.6 million people need urgent humanitarian assistance requiring US$922 million

The National Disaster Risk Management Commission publicly announced that 5.6 Million Ethiopians are in need of emergency food assistance in 2017. Failed rains from late September to November caused a new drought in Oromia, Somali and SNNP regions. Pastoralist and agro pastoralist communities in Borena, Guji, Bale and East Hararge zones of Oromia region, all the nine zones of Somali region and Omo, Gamo Gofa and Segen zones of SNNP region are the most affected.

The commission said close to $922 million is needed to respond to urgent food and non-food needs in 2017. Although the number of people requiring aid reduced by 44 per cent compared to the 2016, the humanitarian requirement remains as high as the previous year. Government, the humanitarian community, private sector and the society at large are encouraged to contribute to achieve the required amount. Government of Ethiopia has requeted the health sector to oversee possible disease outbreaks in the drought-affected regions. The commission also noted Government is planning to purchase relief food, cereals and pulses as well as corn soy blend (CSBs) from local market. Government set up command posts close to the affected areas for early warning; monitoring and to evaluation of humanitarian aid needs and warehouses.

The new hotspot classification identifies 454 woredas as priorities for the first half of 2016

Prioritization of the woredas receiving emergency relief as of December 2016 indicates that from a total of 454 priority woredas, 192 are priority one, 174 priority two and 88 priority three. The number of priority one woredas has reduced by 12 per cent, from 216 in July 2016 to 192 in December 2016. In the recent classification, the overwhelming majority of the priority woredas are found in newly drought affected areas, in the south and south eastern parts of the country. The hotspot classification process was conducted by the federal review team that consisted of FEWS-NET, WFP, UNICEF and NDRMC/ENCU, using a multisectoral approach.

An estimated 2.8 million boys and girls received critical educational materials

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has provided critical educational materials for an estimated 2.8 million boys and girls throughout Ethiopia to protect vulnerable children’s right to education, following one of the worst droughts in Ethiopia in more than 50 years. More than 8.2 million exercise books have been distributed to the most droughtaffected districts in the country. In addition, more than 5.5 million pens and pencils have been delivered to affected schools and communities. The Ministry of Education and regional education bureaus played key roles by ensuring the delivery of these materials to local schools.
For more on this kindly visit USAID.gov/Ethiopia/News

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs: To learn more about OCHA's activities, please visit https://www.unocha.org/.