Home | UNICEF in Action | Highlights | Information Resources | Donations, Greeting Cards & Gifts | Press Centre | Voices of Youth | About UNICEF

Humanitarian crisis looming in Eritrea

Friday, 19 May 2000: UNICEF warned today of a looming humanitarian crisis in Eritrea, where the government estimates that as many as 1 million people have been displaced within the last week due to the conflict with neighboring Ethiopia.

With an additional 300,000 people already suffering from drought-related hunger and illness, nearly half of Eritrea's population of about 3.1 million people may be in need of an international humanitarian lifeline. The hardest-hit regions are Shambuko, Tokombiya, Molki, Haykota, LalayGas, Tesenei and Barentu.

"In the space of one week we've seen an overwhelming humanitarian crisis develop," said Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of UNICEF. "I can't recall another instance when such a serious natural disaster was followed so quickly by a man-made disaster. And it's the innocent civilians -- including a quarter of a million children under the age of five -- who have their backs against the wall."

Ms. Bellamy pointed out that UNICEF, along with other relief organisations, had not yet received full donor funding for the drought relief effort in Eritrea and elsewhere in the Horn of Africa. But she said relief agencies had no choice but to seek even more assistance.

"This is no time to shy away from the people of this region," Ms. Bellamy observed. "Between the drought and the conflict, up to 1.3 million people in Eritrea may now be in need of urgent assistance, and as humanitarians we've got to try to get it to them."

Ms. Bellamy added that UNICEF was also providing ongoing humanitarian support to some 340,000 people in Ethiopia who had been displaced during earlier phases of the conflict. In 1999, UNICEF provided about $1.8 million to support health, nutrition, emergency education, and water initiatives for war-displaced populations in northern Ethiopia's Tigray region. Ms. Bellamy said UNICEF would continue that work, albeit within the security constraints of the present situation.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, UN agencies and the government-run Eritrean Relief and Refugee Commission (ERREC) jointly organised a donor conference to review the humanitarian situation and jump-start relief efforts. Ms. Bellamy said a number of international donors had pledged to support the heightened relief effort, but added that far more support would be required. UNICEF said a flash appeal would be launched soon. UNICEF staff in Eritrea reported that the capital of Asmara is fast becoming the primary destination of displaced populations.

"As a result of this unique double crisis, I urge the international community to take two steps," Ms. Bellamy said. "The first step is to provide full funding to relief efforts for conflict-affected and drought-affected communities across the Horn of Africa, including in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Djibouti and Sudan. The second step is to work with the two governments to bring about an immediate and peaceful cease-fire and a lasting peace. Without one, the humanitarian situation is only going to worsen."

UNICEF's emergency funding appeal for children and women in the drought-affected countries of the Horn stood at nearly $40 million prior to the renewal of the Ethiopia-Eritrea conflict. It will likely be revised upward as the crisis in Eritrea unfolds.

See also:

• Drought disasters
• For the Horn, every day counts
• It's not too late for the Horn

Home| UNICEF in Action | Highlights | Information Resources | Donations, Greeting Cards & Gifts | Press Centre | Voices of Youth | About UNICEF