Ethiopia appeals for $1.3B for emergency assistance

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia

The Ethiopian government and international humanitarian partners on Thursday appealed for $1.314 billion for emergency assistance.

The appeal was made through a “2019 Ethiopia Humanitarian Response Plan” formally launched by Ethiopia’s National Disaster Risk Management Commissioner Mitiku Kassa and United Nations Resident Humanitarian Coordinator Aeneas Chuma.

The number of people in need of emergency assistance in the country, according to the Response Plan, show a 5.04 percent increase mainly due to conflict situations across the country.

“As I speak today, 8 million people require emergency food or cash assistance, of whom 46 percent are in Oromia, 22 percent in Somali, 12 percent in Ahmara, 10 percent in SNNP [Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples regional state], 4 percent each in Tigray and Afar regions,” Mitiku said.

“Ethiopia was spared significant climate-related calamities last year, but spikes in conflict-induced displacements in 2018, which led to a near doubling of internally displaced population, contributed to high humanitarian response needs in 2019,” he went on to say.

For his part, Chuma acknowledged the government’s leadership in addressing the needs of people affected by crisis across the country.

“International humanitarian partners are committed to continue to closely work with Government counterparts and to provide timely assistance to affected populations based on needs […],” he said.