In Ethiopia's Afar region, students stand in poorly equipped classrooms.
At a time when Ethiopia is in dire need of additional humanitarian funding, international partners participated today in Geneva in a pledging conference co-sponsored by the United Nations and the Governments of Ethiopia and the United Kingdom, and pledged nearly $630 million.
The UN's 2024 humanitarian response plan for Ethiopia requires US$3.24 billion, but only 5% of it is currently funded. The day's pledging session was aimed at securing additional pledges to boost life-saving assistance for an estimated 15.5 million people this year.
The $1 billion needed to aid the country is urgently needed, otherwise it will be difficult to sustain the delivery of aid over the next five months.
Multi-factor crisis
The escalation of the crisis in Ethiopia is largely due to the repeated cycle of drought, floods and conflict. During the lean harvest season from July to September, food insecurity and malnutrition are expected to affect 10.8 million people.
Some 4.5 million people have been displaced in the country, raising concerns about public health and protection services. In addition, El Niño has exacerbated drought conditions in the northern highlands, resulting in reduced water availability, dry pastures and damaged harvests.
At the same time, malnutrition continues to worsen in many areas, including Afar, Amhara and Tigray, highlighting the urgent need for funding.
Ramiz Alakbarov, UN Assistant Secretary-General and Humanitarian Coordinator for Ethiopia, said the conflict had destroyed thousands of schools, health facilities, water systems and other community infrastructure, while the safety and security of humanitarian workers remained a problem in many parts of Ethiopia.
The Government of Ethiopia recently approved a new national policy on disaster risk management and pledged $250 million in food aid in the coming months. In addition, the state government and the country's private sector have allocated more domestic resources to emergency responses.
unity is strength
Towards the end of the day's meeting, Joyce Msuya, the UN's assistant secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, quoted an Amharic proverb that translates to "When a spider's web is glued together, it can trap a lion."
"It shows that with people working together, as we did this afternoon, we can accomplish the big things and overcome the big challenges," she explained. ”
She applauded the 21 cash commitments made that day. Among them, the United States pledged $253 million, followed by the United Kingdom with $125 million. This, she said, reflects "the power of solidarity and collective efforts to achieve common goals."
Health services are in dire need of funding
Dr. Michael Ryan, speaking on behalf of the World Health Organization, said that the cholera outbreak in Ethiopia is now in its 20th month, with more than 41,000 cases, and that malaria cases have exceeded 1.1 million this year.
He noted that millions of people in the areas where these outbreaks have lost access to essential health services, and that drought and flooding have made the situation worse.
"WHO and our health partners are delivering life-saving health services on the ground, but we cannot continue without emergency funding," he said. ”
So far this year, only 4 per cent of the US$ 187 million needed by WHO has been in place, he said.
