© UNICEF/Ethiopia/2012/Getachew
People in Risay, Fedis District waiting to receive safe drinking water from a water truck.
Ethiopia
In 2013, UNICEF and partners plan for:
300,000
children under 5 with severe acute malnutrition treated
1,000,000
people have access to safe water for drinking, cooking and personal hygiene
90,000
school-aged children access quality education
2013 requirements (US$)
Humanitarian situation
Due to recurring droughts, the number of Ethiopians in need of emergency food assistance increased from 3.2 million at the beginning of 2012 to 3.7 million by mid-year,1 with an estimated 312,211 children needing treatment for severe acute malnutrition. Ethiopia suffered two consecutive failed rainy seasons in 2010 and 2011, which affected the southern and southeastern parts of the country. Normal to above normal rains at the end of 2011 led to a better harvest2 at the beginning of 2012 in most parts of the country, but the near-complete failure of the 2012 February–May rains resulted in an increase in food insecurity and malnutrition, particularly in Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR) and parts of Amhara and Oromiya regions. Outbreaks of diseases such as acute watery diarrhoea and measles continue to pose a great risk to children.
Inter-communal conflict and displacement pose additional threats to the protection of children, as they may be left without adequate shelter, food and water. Furthermore, children are at risk of separation from their families, emotional distress, abuse and exploitation. In late July 2012, more than 40,000 people were displaced in the Moyale area of southern Ethiopia due to inter-communal conflict. The arrival of refugees from Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan continued in 2012, although at a much slower rate compared to the second half of 2011. As of October 2012, 170,235 Somali and 65,451 Sudanese refugees had arrived in Ethiopia.3
Planned results for 2013
2013 Programme Targets
Nutrition
- 300,000 children under 5 with severe acute malnutrition treated.
- 11,700,000 (90 per cent) children aged 6–59 months receive vitamin A twice yearly.
- 140,000 pregnant and lactating women in Afar, Benishangul-Gumuz, Gambella and Somali regions screened twice yearly for malnutrition.
Health
- 576,000 children, adolescents and women access essential health services though preventive and curative interventions in Somali and Afar regions.
- Populations affected by disease outbreaks access lifesaving curative and preventive interventions (estimated 12 outbreaks per year in Ethiopia).
- 14,000 refugee children under 1 immunized (Penta3).
WASH
- 1,000,000 people (approximately 600,000 children, including refugee children) have access to safe water for drinking, cooking and personal hygiene.
- 2,000,000 emergency-affected people, including refugees, receive sanitation and hygiene information to prevent child illnesses, especially diarrhoea.
Education
- 90,000 school-aged children in emergency-affected areas (including refugee children) access quality education.
- 230,000 children provided with quality teaching, including psychosocial support, life skills training and education materials.
Child protection
- 2,000 children affected by emergencies benefit from child protection services, including psychosocial support, through access to child-friendly-spaces.
- 5,000 children in emergencies supported through interventions on prevention of family separation, family tracing and reunification.
HIV and AIDS
- 1,000 community and Government representatives trained in participatory mapping of child protection issues and the minimum package on HIV/AIDS in emergency settings.
With normal rainfall patterns forecasted for 2013, further improvements in the food security and nutrition situation are expected,4 especially in the drought-prone lowland areas of southern and southeastern Ethiopia. However, a significant number of children in Ethiopia will continue to face malnutrition, conflict and displacement, floods, disease outbreaks and critical water shortages. In addition, the influx of refugees from neighbouring countries is expected to continue in 2013. According to the joint Government and humanitarian partners’ Humanitarian Requirements Document of August 2012, 3.7 million people in Ethiopia would be in need of emergency food assistance until the end of December 2012. The Government is preparing a multi-sectoral seasonal assessment to revise the humanitarian needs for the first half of 2013, and these findings will be issued in February 2013.
In 2013, UNICEF will continue to work with the Government of Ethiopia and humanitarian partners to meet its core commitments for children affected by emergencies. UNICEF will ensure that children in Ethiopia have adequate access to health and nutrition care, safe water, and sanitation and hygiene facilities, and that children are protected and have access to education. UNICEF will support the treatment of children suffering from severe acute malnutrition through the government-led community-based management of acute malnutrition. For 2013, UNICEF will prioritize capacity-building for the nutrition cluster partners; in all regions there will be training on the cluster approach, nutrition information and early warning. In the remote and emergency-affected areas of Somali and Afar regions, where no other alternative access to health care exists, UNICEF will continue to support mobile health and nutrition teams. Sufficient water of appropriate quality and quantity will be provided to people affected by drought, floods, conflict and acute watery diarrhoea outbreaks through water trucking, the rehabilitation and construction of water schemes and the distribution of water treatment chemicals and safe storage receptacles. In addition, emergency-affected children will continue their education with the establishment of safe and protective learning environments and the provision of basic educational materials. UNICEF also supports the Government of Ethiopia in its efforts to enhance communities’ resilience to emergency situations. In child protection, UNICEF will continue to support community-based social protection structures that aim to strengthen the traditional care and support systems of local communities. Support will also be provided to the identification, registration and reunification of separated and unaccompanied children, particularly in refugee settings. In HIV and AIDS, UNICEF will provide training on the minimum package on HIV/AIDS in emergency settings.
The overall responsibility for coordinating emergency response in Ethiopia rests with the Disaster Risk Management and Food Security Sector of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and the relevant line ministers coordinate activities in their sectors. UNICEF, as cluster lead in nutrition and WASH and co-lead in education and child protection, provides support to sector coordination.
Results from 2012
UNICEF appealed for US$58,339,000 for Ethiopia for 2012, and as of the end of October had received contributions of US$32,061,138, or 55 per cent of requirements. Despite a major funding gap, UNICEF was able to achieve its planned results for 2012 due to a carry-over of nearly US$16,400,000 in funds from 2011, which allowed for a timely response to several emergencies.
In 2012, UNICEF supported the Ministry of Health and non-governmental organizations in the management of severe acute malnutrition by providing therapeutic food, drugs and equipment to more than 10,000 therapeutic feeding sites in the country. These facilities provided treatment to 229,888 children with acute malnutrition.To assist the Somali and Afar Regional Health Bureaus’ programmes for hard-to-reach communities, UNICEF provided 223emergency drug kits to mobile health and nutrition teams, sufficient to meet the various medical needs of nearly 243,000 people. Similarly,37 emergency drugs kits were sent to the Gambella, Oromiya and Somali regions to respond to measles outbreaks and provide displaced persons in Moyale with access to health-care services, supporting access to basic health services for more than 92,500 people. UNICEF also supported the treatment of more than 1,000 acute watery diarrhoea patients. Around 145,240 children, including 38,850 refugees, in the Afar, Amhara, Gambella, Oromiya and Somali regions were able to continue their education partly due to UNICEF-provided supplies, including 300 early childhood development kits, 200 teacher kits and 1,000 learners’ kits. UNICEF worked with partners to respond to emergencies and to build the resilience of communities and public service systems, providing cluster leadership for WASH and nutrition, andco-leadership for the education cluster with Save the Children UK and child protection area of responsibility. UNICEF also provided the Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Bureaus in Afar, Amhara, Gambella, Oromiya, Somali, SNNPR and Tigray regions with technical support on regional emergency preparedness and response plans for 2012.
Working closely with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Government, through the Ethiopian Administration for Refugee and Returnee Affairs (ARRA), UNICEF supported the response to refugees from Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan. UNICEF’s response in 2012 included: support for 30,000 children to access primary education; nutrition interventions in Dollo Ado and Assossa refugee camps; essential drugs for primary health care; two mobile health and nutrition teams in Dollo Ado camp; tracing and reunification of separated and unaccompanied minors; and strengthened child protection mechanisms in the camps.
Nutrition: *Data are as of September 2012.
**Due to the transition of the biannual Enhanced Outreach Strategy to quarterly Community Health Days (CHDs) and the Health Extension Programme (CHD/HEP), the process of conducting CHDs in Amhara, Oromiya, and SNNPR was disrupted with training at regional, zonal and woreda levels. CHD implementation in these three major regions was delayed to October, 2012. As of November 2012, the first round of 2012 vitamin A supplementation, CHD campaign was ongoing in these regions. The figure of 10,253,416 for child Vitamin A supplementation and of 1,398,202 for pregnant and breasfeeding women are the totals reached to date. This combines 2011 Round 2, carried out in January–February of 2012, and, for some regions (Afar, Benishangul-Gumuz, Gambella, Somali and Tigray), 2012 Round 1.
Health: *Results from the measles campaign in Keffa zone, SNNPR.
**2012 consultations by mobile health and nutrition teams (Somali: 219,483 consultations through September by the Regional Health Bureau; Afar: 21,653 consultations through September by the Regional Health Bureau, Benishangul Gumuz: 1,654).
***Treatment of more than 4,000 cases of measles and 1,028 cases of acute watery diarrhoea
UNICEF will require US$49,487,000 during 2013 for emergency activities to save lives and build on past gains in building the resilience of communities in Ethiopia. This is a 15 per cent decrease in requirements from 2012. The reduction reflects a projected improvement in the food security and nutritional situation in 2013 and a shift in the strategy to use Community Health Days for nutritional screening in Amhara, Oromiya, SNNP and Tigray regions. The funding requirements include an estimated US$2,000,000 for UNICEF support for the UNHCR-led refugee response in Dollo Ado and Benishangul-Gumuz refugee camps.
1 Humanitarian Requirements 2012: <Joint government and humanitarian partners’ document, August 2012.
2 Meher season 2011/2012 cereal production was well above the average of the past five years, according to the FAO/GIEWS March 2012 Ethiopia Country Brief.
3 UNHCR, ‘Refugees in the Horn of Africa: Somali displacement crisis’ and ‘Sudanese Refugees in Ethiopia’,<http://data.unhcr.org/horn-of-africa/region.php?id=7&country=65> and <http://data.unhcr.org/Sudanese_Refugees_in_Ethiopia/country.php?id=65>, accessed 12 October 2012.
4 In October 2012, the Ethiopia Emergency Nutrition Emergency Unit (ENCU) released a revised woreda (district) ‘hotspot’ list, classifying them as priority 1, 2 or 3 hotspots based on a combination of factors, including high food insecurity, moderate to high levels of malnutrition rates, admission trends in therapeutic feeding programmes and other vulnerabilities. Because of improvements in the food security situation overall, the number of Priority 1 districts, those requiring the most urgent interventions, decreased significantly (by more than 56 per cent), from 192 in April/May 2012 to 84 in September/October 2012. The next revision of the hotspot list is expected after the 2012 Meher seasonal assessments (December 2012/January 2013).