UN releases $17 million to aid drought-hit northern Ethiopia

UN humanitarians said Tuesday that the world body's relief chief has allocated $17 million to help relieve a drought-triggered, worsening hunger situation in northern Ethiopia.

The amount released by Undersecretary-General Martin Griffiths from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) reflects the deep concern over the impact of a new El Nino-driven drought that is affecting the Afar, Amhara, and Tigray regions, said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

"Food insecurity is only set to increase in the coming months," OCHA said. "As the new drought intensifies, more than 10 million people across Ethiopia are expected to need food assistance during the July-to-September lean season."

The humanitarians said previous droughts and ongoing hostilities continue to impact, with projected flooding bringing further hardship.

OCHA underscores that there is a short window of opportunity to avert the worst impacts on communities battered by back-to-back shocks, including the conflict in northern Ethiopia between 2020 and 2022.

"It is essential that this latest CERF allocation is followed up by additional funding from donors," the office said. "Thanks to their generosity and efforts to the government of Ethiopia, some 6.6 million people are already being reached with food and cash assistance."

However, OCHA said that more resources are urgently needed.

In order to sustain and scale up the humanitarian food and non-food response across the country, the humanitarian community and the government of Ethiopia on Monday launched a joint appeal for this year's response, asking for $3.24 billion to address the needs of 15.5 million people in need this year. 

(Cover image via CFP)