UNFPA Ethiopia Response to the Tigray Crisis – Situation report (15-31 August 2021)

Background

The situation in Northern Ethiopia remains unpredictable with active hostilities reportedly expanding into neighboring regions of Afar and Amhara causing mass displacement and a worsening of the humanitarian situation. Two months after the declaration of a unilateral ceasefire by the Federal Government on June 28, the withdrawal of the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) and the takeover of most of the Tigray Region by the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF), the conflict continues to affect civilians in areas bordering the Tigray Region through increased food insecurity, increased displacement, disruption of livelihoods and constrained access to basic services such as health care.

While needs assessments are still being undertaken amid active confrontations in the area, regional authorities report more than 1.6 internally displaced people in Amhara region, with 618,873 people displaced due to the recent conflicts mainly in North Wollo, North Gondar, Wag Himra and South Wollo zones. In Afar, the Afar Regional Disaster Prevention, Preparedness, and Food Security Coordinator office (DPFSPCO), reported that 140,012 people have been displaced from 7 wored as in Fani, Awsi and Kilbati Rasu zones since the unilateral ceasefire was declared by the Federal Government. Although operational presence and capacity of humanitarian actors to respond to the increasing needs remains limited in the Amhara and Afar regions due to the ongoing hostilities, there is better access in nearly 75% of the Tigray region, with the exception of the North-Western Zone, Southern Zone and Western Zone bordering with Eritrea. Access constraints to replenish relief stocks by road persisted during the reporting period, slowing down humanitarian actors’ capacity to respond to the current and emerging needs of 5.2 million people in need across the region. Discussions are being held with the Federal Government to facilitate the movement of supplies and personnel to urgently scale-up humanitarian response in the Tigray region.

Source: United Nations Population Fund