ReliefWeb

(Nairobi, 19th July 2018), At least 1 million people, the majority of whom being women and children are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance following recent inter-communal conflict in Ethiopia. Aid agencies in Ethiopia are appealing for critical and urgent assistance for close to a million people that have fled their homes following inter-communal violence along the border of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' (SNNPR) and Oromia Regions of Ethiopia. Displaced communities in Gedeo and West Guji are facing critical gaps in accessing basic services as the majority left their houses with close to nothing. They are in need of food, shelter, water and psychosocial support. Aid agencies warn that without a scale up of assistance, the situation of the IDPs is likely to further deteriorate. The Government of Ethiopia together with humanitarian partners have launched lifesaving assistance for the IDPs.

This is however in the face of major resource constrains challenging their ability to address significant gaps. “The Government, UN and INGOs on the ground are (re)allocating all available resources in order to scale-up and provide immediate lifesaving assistance to the displaced populations in Gedeo and West Guji. Given the enormity of the scale and severity of the humanitarian needs, significantly more resourcing is required to ensure we can effectively respond.’’ said Samuel Wood, Humanitarian Director at Save the Children in Ethiopia. Ethiopia is coming off a prolonged drought that severely eroded the resilience of communities. 7.9 million people are food insecure with there already being at least 1.6 million people displaced by the drought and conflict. Only less than half of the $1.6 Billion requested for the country’s Humanitarian and Disaster Resilience Plan (HRDP) has so far been received. “The escalation of humanitarian needs due to recent displacement is further compounding the situation for millions of people especially women, children and older people that are already vulnerable.

We should act now to prevent any further decline.” added Roger Yates, the Regional Director of Plan International in Eastern and Southern Africa. In light of the critical need, aid agencies call on donors to urgently avail funds to enable a further scale up of services for displaced communities. Acknowledging ongoing Government peace and reconciliation efforts, aid agencies are further calling on the Government of Ethiopia to expedite the resolution of the conflict among the communities in affected areas and facilitate durable solutions to growing internal displacement. This statement is signed off by the following agencies:

• Care
• Plan International
• Tearfund
• GOAL
• HelpAge International
• Save the Children
• World Vision
• Oxfam

For further information please contact:

1. George Njeru - IAWG Coordinator on coordinator@iawg-africa.org
2. Christine Murugami – for the IAWG Communications and Advocacy Working Group: Christine.Murugami@savethechildren.org