Ethiopia – Tigray Region Humanitarian Update Situation Report #26 – January 18, 2022
FAST FACTS
- International Medical Corps is operating 23 mobile medical units (MMUs), which have reached more than 590,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) settled in 39 IDP sites in the Afar, Amhara and Tigray regions.
- International Medical Corps’ MMUs are providing integrated health, nutrition, gender-based violence (GBV), mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS), and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services.
- Medical and logistics teams have continued to provide services despite unpredictable security conditions and supply-chain constraints.
It has been 15 months since the start of the conflict between the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). The security situation in northern Ethiopia remains fluid. On December 24, the ENDF halted the advance of its troops at the borders with Tigray, having regained all towns and cities taken by the TPLF in Afar and Amhara Regions.
Recently, internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Dessie and Debreberhan returned to their original locations. Due to the recent violence in Abala, in the Afar Region 50 kms east of Mekelle, more than 52,000 IDPs have fled to Semera and the surrounding sites.
This expansion of fighting has displaced an additional estimated 2.2 million IDPs in Amhara and 376,500 IDPs in Afar. It has rendered 1,436 health facilities nonfunctional in the Amhara and Afar regions, including 271 health centers, 1,146 health posts and 23 hospitals. Out of the affected health facilities, 163 health centers, 642 health posts and 14 hospitals were destroyed, and equipment and supplies looted.
The emergency response effort in Tigray continues to be hampered by the disruption and suspension of electricity, telephone and internet networks, and banking services, as well as fuel shortages and logistical challenges in transporting critical supplies, including essential drugs. As a result, medicines and medical supplies are in extremely short supply in Tigray.
Source: International Medical Corps