ADDIS ABABA, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- The prolonged drought has challenged the humanitarian response in Ethiopia as the drought situation worsened in the last months of 2023, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has said.
In an Ethiopia emergency shelter cluster update released Friday, the UN refugee agency said conflict and climatic shocks continued to be key drivers of humanitarian needs in the East African country.
"The humanitarian response in Ethiopia continues to be challenged by the prolonged drought that has worsened in the last months of 2023 in both northern and southern parts of the country even as some parts are recovering from seasonal floods in October and November," the report said.
During the course of 2023, the emergency shelter cluster aimed to reach 3.2 million people who were affected by the compounded effects of the 2020-2022 conflict in Northern Ethiopia, the extended drought and seasonal floods in the southern and southeastern regions of the country, pockets of conflict in the western regions, and the global economic crisis.
The report said by the end of the year, cluster partners have reported reaching 1.4 million vulnerable people, accounting for 45 percent of the total target population, with 49.8 percent of the required funding of 128.4 million U.S. dollars.
It said internally displaced persons (IDPs) across the range of settlements and crisis types account for 65 percent of the assisted people, followed by returnees at 25 percent.
Noting the continuing and overlapping crises in the East African country, the emergency shelter cluster said it continued to help crisis-affected people to have appropriate access to adequate shelter solutions and essential household items to live in health, security, safety, and dignity.
On Wednesday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) has warned against an impending humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia fueled by a combination of climatic shocks, conflict and economic shocks.
The UNOCHA said Ethiopia is once again on the verge of a major humanitarian situation due to cycles of multiple, often overlapping crises, which severely weakens communities' ability to cope.
It said the humanitarian crises in the country is primarily driven by the convergence of four major factors that are climate crises mainly manifested through floods and drought, armed conflicts, disease outbreaks, as well as economic shocks.
