The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says it has encountered a funding shortfall in meeting the needs of refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) in conflict-hit northern Ethiopia.
“A full-scale humanitarian and protection crisis continues to unfold in and around Ethiopia’s Tigray, Amhara and Afar regions since armed conflict broke out in early November 2020,” the UNHCR said in its northern Ethiopia situation update issued late Thursday.
Over 1.1 million IDPs, refugees, returnees, and affected populations benefitted from UNHCR and partners’ protection services since January 2022 in northern Ethiopia, it was noted.
“Of the 205.4 million U.S. dollars in financial requirements for the Ethiopia Emergency in 2022, UNHCR received only 31.2 million U.S. dollars (15 percent), with a funding gap reaching 174.2 million U.S. dollars,” the UN refugee agency said.
While ensuring access to basic services, UNHCR also provided 142,886 displaced individuals with core relief items in Ethiopia’s northern Afar, Amhara and Tigray regions since January 2022.
The humanitarian situation across northern Ethiopia is “deeply concerning”, with 2.6 million IDPs, over 240,000 returnees and 97,421 refugees and asylum-seekers across the three affected regions, it said.
It stressed that “the overall security situation remains complex and fluid, hindering effective delivery of life-saving assistance to the most affected populations.”
Humanitarian aid is recently heading to Ethiopia’s northernmost Tigray region after the Ethiopian government and the rebel Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) agreed to a conditional cessation of hostilities and unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid into the region.
The TPLF and the Ethiopian National Defense Force, backed by allied forces, have been engaged in an 18-month conflict that has reportedly left tens of thousands of people dead and millions of others in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.
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