Humanitarian Aid for Ethiopia Not Enough vis-a-vis Compounded Crises in Country: UNOCHA

April 09, 2022 (ENA) The humanitarian aid provided for the needy in Ethiopia is not sufficient when compared with the complex crises the country is facing, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) for Ethiopia Head said.

In an exclusive interview with ENA, UNOCHA Head for Ethiopia Michel Saad said lots of people are in need of humanitarian assistance in Ethiopia.

“There are a lot of people in need of humanitarian aid. Unfortunately the suffering has not stopped. People continue to be displaced due to violence, conflict or drought. We are pulling all efforts together, all the response together and working closely with the government counterpart to see what they are able to provide and how we can complement it,” he stated.

According to the head, OCHA is working on the humanitarian response plan for this year and hopes to get an agreement on the plan soon. “We are calling for over 3 billion USD to support over 22 million people in need of humanitarian aid.”

Saad said, “As you can see from the current situation, there is what we can call not only a complex crisis, but compounded crises in several parts of the country."

Ethiopians are suffering and OCHA's job is to see how it can support the government in alleviating this suffering, he added.

“We call on the donor community also to see how they can support us more in terms of financing and resources. We do need to maintain this momentum. We do need to have more resources to ensure that there is enough attention on Ethiopia.”

The office had called for over 2 billion USD last year to respond and about 60 percent was  funded which really helped  it to scale up the whole response, the head noted.

“Our plan for the past year has been quite well funded, if you compare on global level. It was like about 60 percent, which is really good. This is where we all put our hands together and ensure that we are sending the same message.”  

Since 2004 UNOCHA has been providing humanitarian aid for affected people and is currently operating in Ethiopia in 10 sub-offices with the main office in Addis Ababa.