Ethiopia – Northern Ethiopia Humanitarian Update Situation Report, 14 Apr 2022

HIGHLIGHTS

• Humanitarian partners have not been able to move any additional aid supplies into Tigray by road since the convoy entered on 1 and 2 April.
• About 36 metric tons of HIV medical supplies were airlifted to Mekelle, the first time since July 2021. It will be enough to provide treatment for 46,000 patients for six months.
• Authorities in Amhara relocated more than 20,000 people out of the planned 70,000 people in North Wello and Wag Hamra zones to new designated sites since mid-March.
• WFP assisted over 35,000 people with food in Gulina, Barahle and Dalole woredas in Afar during the reporting period, reaching over 235,000 people since last week of February.
• More than 11,000 children under five and pregnant and lactating women received supplementary nutrients in Wag Harma and North Wello zones in Amhara between 1 and 10 April.

BACKGROUND (14 Apr 2022)

Situation Overview

The overall situation in northern Ethiopia remained generally calm during the reporting period, with no incidents reported but it continued to be tense and unpredictable. The lines of contacts along the Amhara and Tigray regional border, Western Tigray and North-Western Tigray and in northern Tigray along the border with Eritrea remained static with no incidents reported. No clashes were reported in Kilbet/Zone 2 in Afar Region since 30 March, but the situation is not yet conducive for the safe returns of internally displaced people (IDPs) to their areas of origin or an alternative location in the region.

Humanitarian partners have not been able to move any additional aid supplies into Tigray via the Semera-Abala-Mekelle since the convoy of 20 trucks with food and nutrition supplies and one fuel tanker that arrived on 1 and 2 April, the first convoy since 15 December 2021. Humanitarian organizations in Tigray are facing growing challenges in reaching people in need due to shortages of essential supplies, and the continuing suspension of basic essential services, including banking, electricity, and communications. Food partners, for instance, remain with only around 1,300 metric tons (MT) of food commodities within Tigray out of which, there is merely enough stock or 360 MT to feed about 21,000 people with a balanced three-commodity food basket for one round.

Between 4 and 8 April, humanitarian partners airlifted 100 MT of nutrition and medical supplies to Mekelle, Tigray. As of 11 April, the total amount of medical and nutrition supplies airlifted since the first cargo flight on 24 January is about 538 MT, equivalent to only 13 trucks of humanitarian supplies. The supplies included about 36 MT of HIV anti-retroviral medicines, the first time since July 2021. This will be enough to treat 46,000 HIV patients for six months. The airlifts remain limited to low quantities between 5 and 13 MT per flight and were prioritized according to the most urgent lifesaving needs, therefore cannot fill in the significant gap between the needs on the ground and the supplies delivered.

In Amhara, the situation along areas bordering Tigray, namely in Wag Hamra, North Wello and North Gondar zones, remained unpredictable but relatively calm during the reporting period. Several locations remained hard to reach for partners’ humanitarian operations due to security concerns, including Abergele and Tsagibji kebeles, parts of Zequala kebeles in Wag Hamra Zone, large sections of Kobo in North Wello Zone, and in Addi Arekay in the North Gondar Zone.

Also in Amhara, the regional government authorities continued with the relocation of IDPs in Kobo and Sekota. To date, and since 14 March, they have relocated more than 17,000 people out of an estimated 58,000 registered IDPs planned for relocation from Kobo in North Wollo Zone to Jara, near Weldiya, the zonal capital. In Wag Hamra, more than 3,000 IDPs have been relocated to Weleh IDP site so far, out of an estimated 12,000 IDPs in the zone planned for relocation to the site.

In Afar, the humanitarian situation continued to be dire with a high number of IDPs in need of support while the response is still insufficient to meet the amounting needs in the region. Health and nutrition clusters reported a spike in malnutrition rates at the IDP sites. More than 2,300 children under five with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) were admitted for treatment in February compared to a little over 2000 cases in January, a 15 per cent increase in a one-month period. This is attributed mainly to wide-scale displacement, deteriorating food security situation, and low presence of partners on the ground.

In Semera, there are about the 8,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) of which their freedom of movement is restricted and therefore are unable to seek referral services unavailable at the site. Partners continue to improve services at the site including health, food, shelter, water, and sanitation. There are plans to relocate some of the IDPs to new locations to decrease the crowded conditions and improve the overall living environment.

Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs