UN appeals for funds to help 15,000 hard-pressed displaced people in Ethiopia

Warning of the deteriorating situation of 15,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in eastern Ethiopia, the United Nations relief coordination branch today appealed to the international community for an immediate contribution of $180,000 to start up reintegration efforts and prevent the situation from worsening.

“There is a need to respond with timely assistance,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a special alert on the situation in the Hartishek and Fafen camps in Ethiopia’s Somali region, where it is seeking donor funding for the return and reintegration initially of 6,000 IDPs to their areas of origin.

The UN Development Programme (UNDP) has already allocated $150,000 to an economic recovery programme to foster returns, but OCHA said an additional $180,000 is needed to begin the first phase of transportation, reintegration and medical screening.

It has not been possible to continue regular food distribution to 8,000 IDPs in Fafen where the local population, who are no longer included in general food distribution, resent the allocations, OCHA said.

In Hartishek, 7,000 IDPs in one camp have not received water for three months, placing an additional burden on limited existing sources. Food aid is still reaching IDPs there in limited quantities, but conditions in the camp are deteriorating and government counterparts report an increased prevalence of infectious diseases in the area.

“The only viable alternative is to move the IDPs back to their areas of origin where they can be incorporated within wider processes of regional development within their home communities,” OCHA declared.