Humanitarian assistance to UNICEF’s operation in Ethiopia

Description What is done in the programme or project and why, what results are pursued, who benefits from the activities and who are involved in the implementation.

Ethiopia’s humanitarian situation is very difficult. In the last years, the country has suffered from floods and desert locust. Covid-19 pandemic and the conflict in Tigray have aggravated the situation. An estimated 20 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance. More than 7 million live without clean water and more than 550 000 children suffer from severe malnutrition. There are 1.8 million internally displaced people in the country, of whom 1 million are children. Ethiopia is also hosting 735 000 refugees from other countries. Finland’s funding to UNICEF’s humanitarian programme in Ethiopia respond to critical needs and supports both UNICEF’s country operations and the specific response to the conflict in Tigray. In 2020, UNICEF’s actions target 2.65 million people, of whom 1.43 million are children. UNICEF’s fields of action are food and nutrition, water and sanitation as well as protection. It’s objectives for 2020 include for example to give treatment to 460 000 children affected by Severe Acute Malnourishment, to provide 2.65 million people with access to a sufficient quantity of safe water for drinking, cooking and personal hygiene as well as to give mental health and psychosocial support services to 96 000 children.