ReliefWeb

Refugee Update

In Gambela this past week a humanitarian mission including donor and NGO representatives, and UNHCR visited Raad. The number of new arrivals has slowed down due to reported floods in Jonglei state, South Sudan. In this regard, partners continue to reach out to South Sudanese authorities to explore the possibility of cross border support to people in need. Should the situation persist, UNHCR will consider calling for a meeting of UN and Government counterparts from South Sudan and Ethiopia. Since 27 July, 174 new arrivals from South Sudan (all Murle) arrived in Raad. The new refugee camp in Okugo, some 5.5km from Dimma town will accommodate up to 24,000 people.

In Tigray, more than 1,500 Eritrean refugees arrived in July. This is the highest number of refugees to arrive from Eritrea in a single month since the beginning of the year and puts the total number of Eritrean refugees hosted by Ethiopia at 74,500. The average monthly arrival rate of unaccompanied minors is 130, double the number recorded last year. Secondary movement, including trafficking and smuggling, resulted in the disappearance of some 500 unaccompanied minors over the past 18 months. The UNHCR and ARRA led taskforce is looking into safer solutions for the minors.

WASH Update

With the exception of Afar, where hot and dry weather conditions necessitated the resumption of water trucking in Afdera, Berhale, Bidu, Dubti, Elidaar, Erebti and Kori woredas, normal to above normal karan/kiremt rains improved water availability in most water insecure areas throughout the country. In Somali region, an assessment confirmed water shortages in Adadle and Kebridehar woredas and local authorities requested that water trucking begin.

Accordingly, 23 water trucks, down from 29 last week, were requested for Afar (12) and Tigray (11) regions. Of these, 19 trucks are operational benefiting more than 106,000 people. In Afar, the regional government in collaboration with WASH partners support nearly 23,000 people in Kori (four trucks), Elidaar (four trucks), Bidu (one truck), Berhale (one water truck), Erebti (one water truck), and Dubti (one water truck) woredas. Similarly in Tigray, seven of the 11 requested water trucks are operational in Raya-Azebo (three trucks), Kafta Humera-Adebai (one truck), Humera town (two trucks) and Tsada-Amba (one truck) woredas. Two water trucks requested in Edaga-Arbi woreda were delayed due to infrastructure and terrain issues. The discussions on addressing this gap are on-going. Likewise, government trucks intended for Shire town will proceed as soon as the trucks are maintained. For more information, contact awesterbeek@unicef.org

Flood Update

The flood taskforce met this week. With reported normal to above normal rainfall throughout the country during July and the NMA August forecast of heavy rains, hailstorms and thunderstorms the flood taskforce decided to conduct a rapid assessment in three high-risk regions - Amhara, Oromia and SNNP. The assessment findings will inform activities to strengthen regional preparedness capacity, enhance information exchange and response coordination between regional authorities and humanitarian partners; and update the flood alert. For more information, contact ocha-eth@un.org

Relief Food Update

As of 7 August, the first round of relief food distribution reached 97 per cent, the second round distribution stood at 86 per cent and the third round reached 43 per cent. The third round of relief food dispatch stood at 96 per cent while the fourth round dispatch began in Amhara (2 per cent), Oromia (7 per cent) and Somali (13 per cent) regions. Unlike the second and third rounds, the fourth round allocation contains a full food basket and food ration.

As of the same date, the dispatch of the Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP) food allocation for May stood at 83 per cent and that of June at 67 per cent. For more information, contract wfp.addisababa@wfp.org