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UNFPA Ethiopia Humanitarian Response Situation Report - May 2022

Countries
Ethiopia
Sources
UNFPA
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SITUATION OVERVIEW

Climate shocks, conflicts, insecurity and disease outbreaks have rendered an estimated 25.9 million people across Ethiopia to be in humanitarian need. The declining economy is not helping matters. According to the IOM DTM [1], 4.51 million people have been identified as IDPs across the 9 regions in the country[1] as of February 2022. The main causes of displacement were conflict (81%), drought (9%), social tensions (4%), and other weather-related factors.

After four consecutive failed rainy seasons, the humanitarian situation continues to worsen in the eastern and southern parts of the country with more than 8 million pastoralists and agro-pastoralists in Somali (3.5 million), Oromia (3.4 million), SNNP (1 million) and South-West (more than 15,000 people) regions currently affected by the drought[2]. While humanitarian partners continue to scale up operations, at least 286,000 people are estimated to be displaced across 26 most affected zones[3]. Security concerns and violence have impeded access to people in need in some drought-affected areas, such as Guji and West Guji zones in Oromia region and Konso zone (SNNPR). As per recent weather forecasts, the situation is expected to worsen and expand to new geographic areas in the North-East of the country further increasing needs in scale and scope.

In northern Ethiopia, the situation remains calm but volatile, particularly in some areas of Northern Eastern Amhara and Zone 2 in Afar. Since March 24, 2022, with the announcement by the Federal Government of a “humanitarian truce”, humanitarian partners continue to scale up the flow of humanitarian assistance for more than 9.4 million affected people across the three regions. Despite all the efforts, the operational environment remains constrained by the lack of basic services and functioning markets, as well as the inability to bring sufficient supplies, fuel and cash to Tigray, and limited access to people in hard-to-reach areas across Afar and Amhara regions. In Amhara and Afar regions, regional authorities have started a multi-sectoral response to relocate internally displaced populations although the current overall relocation response is not commensurate to the increasing needs of people in need across northern Ethiopia.