Ethiopia, partners appeal for 1.3 bln USD emergency aid for 8.3 mln people in 2019

ADDIS ABABA, March 7 (Xinhua) -- The Ethiopian government and its humanitarian partners on Thursday appealed for 1.3 billion U.S. dollars to address food and non-food emergency needs of 8.3 million people.

The appeal was made as the Ethiopian government and its humanitarian partners launched the 2019 joint Ethiopia Humanitarian Response Plan in Addis Ababa.

According to the joint response plan, some 4.4 million people are targeted for nutrition support, including 609,961 under-five children who are targeted for the treatment of severe acute malnutrition (SAM).

"Some 2.7 million displaced people and returnees will benefit from emergency shelter and NFI (non-food items) assistance, while millions will receive emergency health, water, education, protection and agriculture support until the end of the year."

Ethiopia's Commissioner of the National Disaster Risk Management Commission Mitiku Kassa said "Ethiopia is at a transition."

"Some of the humanitarian challenges from conflict hazard we have been seeing in recent months, affecting many people, are an unfortunate effect of transitional periods," he said.

UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ethiopia Aeneas Chuma also stressed humanitarian partners' support to Ethiopia's emergency response efforts.

"We acknowledge and appreciate the government's leadership in addressing the needs of people affected by crisis across the country. We also recognize the daunting challenges ahead and the urgent need to scale up assistance," said Chuma.

"Thanks to the leadership of the government and the generous support from donors and friends of Ethiopia, the multi-sector lifesaving assistance has helped mitigate the worst effects of the humanitarian crisis in 2018," he said.

The Ethiopian government had allocated 342 million dollars, while donors contributed 595 million dollars during the 2018 humanitarian response period, it was noted.

"I call upon the international community to continue their generosity and to provide the required resources in time to help alleviate the suffering of the most vulnerable people," Chuma said.

The new joint response plan mainly lays out prioritized multi-sector humanitarian needs in 2019.

The needs are identified through a thorough analysis of the overall humanitarian needs of the country, through the Humanitarian Needs Overview.

Of the reported total vulnerable people requiring emergency food or cash assistance, 46 percent are in Ethiopia's largest Oromia regional state, 22 percent in Ethiopia's Somali region, and some 12 percent in Amhara.

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

"Without urgent additional funding, most lifesaving operations, including nutrition interventions, will cease beyond March 2019," the joint response plan warned.