ReliefWeb

Total people in need: 7.4 million

Total children (<18) in need: 3.5 million

Total people to be reached: 3.1 million

Total children to be reached: 1.5 million

Due to drought and large-scale displacement in the southern and south-eastern lowland areas of Ethiopia, humanitarian needs are expected to remain significant in 2018. As of September 2017, 1.3 million people, 64 per cent of whom are children, are displaced due to conflict and drought. The majority of these people will remain displaced in 2018. Ethiopia is also the second largest refugee-hosting country in Africa, with 889,000 registered refugees, 58 per cent of whom are children, and another 120,000 refugees expected to arrive by the end of 2018. Some 8.5 million people were in need of food assistance during the second half of 2017, up from 5.6 million at the beginning of the year, and an estimated 5 to 7 million people will require food assistance in 2018. In addition, 7.4 million people will require access to safe water in 2018; 333,500 children with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) will need treatment; and 3 million children will require treatment for moderate acute malnutrition. Some 600,000 people will need protection services and 1.7 million school-aged children will require urgent access to education. Vulnerabilities related to drought and displacement will put an estimated 6 million people at risk of disease outbreaks.

Humanitarian strategy

UNICEF will work with the Government and partners to reach affected populations with critical child protection, education, nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and health interventions. As co-lead of the education, WASH and nutrition clusters and the child protection sub-cluster, UNICEF will support coordinated humanitarian response. Access to SAM treatment will be expanded and the early detection of acute malnutrition will be improved through community mobilization. UNICEF will strengthen the capacities of local health personnel to promote infant and young child feeding in emergencies through related training, including on integrated communitybased management of acute malnutrition.

UNICEF-supported mobile teams will provide life-saving health and nutrition services in the Afar and Somali regions. To facilitate better response to disease outbreaks, UNICEF will strengthen related prevention, preparedness and response mechanisms through training, supplies and emergency operations. The WASH response will focus on both life-saving activities and building resilient water and sanitation infrastructure, particularly for displaced populations. Children and women will receive protection risk-mitigation and prevention and response interventions, including for gender-based violence. Access to quality education in safe environments will be expanded for displaced and refugee children through the delivery of school supplies, the construction of temporary learning spaces and teacher training.