[ad_1]
The International Organization for Migration (IOM), the UN Agency for Migration, said on Saturday that Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and conflict-affected communities urgently need humanitarian and recovery assistance after weeks of conflict in the northernmost regional state of Tigray in Ethiopia.
“The majority of internally displaced persons now seeking refuge in places of displacement are women and children who are forced to flee without being able to take their belongings. They are now in dire need of emergency shelter and non-food items, ”IOM said in a statement released on Saturday, announcing the start of operations to help people in need.
Weeks of clashes in the Tigray region between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and the Ethiopian Defense Forces have reportedly left hundreds dead, thousands displaced and millions in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. .
Recent figures from the United Nations revealed that more than 50,000 people, almost half of them children, have arrived in Sudan since the beginning of November.
In the North Amhara regional state, neighboring the Tigray region, IOM has provided emergency shelter and non-food items including blankets and jerry cans, among others, to internally displaced people from Tigray. IOM has begun providing water, sanitation and hygiene services, site management support and emergency health assistance. It was noted that needs assessments have been conducted in ten accessible districts in the Afar and Amhara regions, where IDPs are currently housed.
According to IOM, the expansion of relief operations in Amhara follows the agreement for unhindered humanitarian access that was reached between the United Nations and the Ethiopian government, and the first inter-agency initial joint assessment that was completed this week.
“IOM stands ready to expand assistance to crisis-affected localities and populations in northern Ethiopia as more crisis-affected areas become accessible,” said David Preux, IOM Emergency Coordinator for Response. to the Crisis in Northern Ethiopia in an IOM statement.
The agency has also provided water and sanitation transport services to IDPs at Kebero Meda camp in Gondar, one of the sites identified by IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) as accommodation for IDPs from Tigray. IOM plans to carry out similar activities in additional locations as access is secured.
The IOM, noting that its teams are also working with local authorities to decongest displacement sites and build new collective shelters and community infrastructures, emphasized that “these will guarantee safe and dignified living conditions and the physical distancing necessary to prevent the spread of COVID-19 “.
In addition to internally displaced persons, the East African country regularly receives a large number of cases of returnees from countries of transit and destination, particularly along the Eastern Route between the Horn of Africa and the Gulf states.
More than 2,000 Ethiopian migrants originating from Tigray returned to Ethiopia between September and November 2020. From 2017, and until the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, 30 percent of all returnees to Ethiopia originated from Tigray, according to IOM.
On Thursday, the United Nations had announced the release of $ 35.6 million for water, sanitation, medical supplies and protection for civilians caught up in the conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region.
The UN humanitarian chief has released US $ 13 million from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to help people within Ethiopia and US $ 5 million for newly arrived refugees in Sudan. In addition to this funding, US $ 12 million have been released from the UN Humanitarian Fund in Ethiopia and US $ 5.6 million from the UN Sudan Humanitarian Fund.
Priority will be given to women, children, the elderly and persons with disabilities as funds are disbursed.
In Ethiopia, the UN emergency fund will help health centers to obtain medicines, gloves and other supplies to care for the sick and wounded, and to finance nutrition, clean water and shelter. In Sudan, funding will prioritize life-saving assistance to refugees, including shelter, medical care and clean water.
UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock said in a statement that “After six weeks of conflict, the number of civilian casualties is increasing. Women and children arrive in Sudan with disturbing stories of violence, deprivation and abuse. Many have not succeeded. “
“Conflicts like this are hard to stop once they get out of control, the lives they extinguish cannot be recovered, and the grievances they create are long-lasting. At this time, the children cannot be helped. We need unrestricted access now, ”Lowcock added.
[ad_2]
