Two agencies of the United Nations (UN) say they need U.S.$68 million to avoid food ration cuts for over 700,000 refugees in Gambella, Afar, Shire, Melkadida, Assosa and Jijiga camps in Ethiopia.
The World Food Programme (WFP), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and the Ethiopia National Agency for Refugee and Returnee Affairs (ARRA) recently warned of growing health and nutrition risks for refugees in the country.
According to a statement by WFP, funding shortages will force ration cuts of up to 60 percent of required daily nutrition intake for refugees.
Starting in November, the over 700,000 refugees impacted by the cuts will receive just 1,262 kilocalories per person/day if funding is not secured.
‘The ration cuts are a last resort to avert a complete break in food supplies across the country. However, even with this reduction, if WFP [does not] receive an additional funding it will completely run out of food for refugees by January 2022’, the WFP statement read.
‘If there is an immediate response from donors, however, WFP would be able to buy food available in the region and quickly transport to meet the refugees’ urgent dietary needs and avert the ration cuts.
‘WFP would also be able to transfer cash to refugees immediately so they can buy the food they need from local markets and meet their urgent dietary needs’.
As of March 30, 2020, Ethiopia was hosting 758,199 registered refugees and asylum seekers, making it the second largest refugee-hosting country in Africa, according to the World Bank.
In addition, more than 1.7 million people have been displaced by the fighting between Ethiopian troops and the Tigray Defence Force.
Presently, the government of Ethiopia provides protection to more than 800,000 refugees, the majority of whom are from South Sudan, Somalia, and Eritrea.
‘We are appealing to our donors to quickly come to the aid of the refugees, who solely rely on WFP food and cash transfers for survival’, WFP Country Director for Ethiopia, Steven Were Omamo, said in the statement.
‘Sadly, prolonged ration cuts affect the refugees’ nutrition and health. The immediate priority for us all must be to restore assistance to at least minimum levels for refugees, many of whom lost the lifeline of remittances due to the global impact of [Covid-19]’.
The triple burden of food insecurity, undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies is expected to worsen, behind the background of the already high global acute malnutrition (GAM) rates in 16 of the 24 refugee camps.
WFP revealed that in 19 of the 24 refugee camps, anaemia levels are above the UNHCR standard of less than 20 percent for children between six and 59 months of age.
WFP also provides specialised fortified foods to young children, pregnant women and nursing mothers to fight off malnutrition.
The ration cuts will mean nutrition support will be limited to only children under the age of two as well as pregnant and breastfeeding women.
‘We are grateful to donors for continuing to provide funding to meet the food and non-food needs of refugees’, UNHCR Representative in Ethiopia, Mamadou Dian Balde, said.
‘However, the lack of funding to sustain food assistance will greatly undermine the overall protection needs of the refugee population in Ethiopia, with negative effects to the peaceful coexistence between refugees and hosting communities, and plausibly reverse the gains made in reduction of malnutrition’.
UNHCR, WFP and ARRA are jointly implementing the ration cuts and have begun to work together on sensitising the refugee leaders and refugees in the camps of the changes in their entitlements.
Source: WFP
Photo source: WFP/Tsiory Ny Aina Andriantsoarana
