Resources are spreading thinly to address humanitarian crisis Ethiopia is facing due to the effects of the drought that occurred in 2015, according to Save the Children. Issues of funding are especially difficult now due to new humanitarian crisis of internally displaced people due to conflict, the agency stated.
“Looking at the recent conflict especially alongside the border of the Oromia and Somali regions and the displaced population, especially children, we are supporting with the access of food, education, clean water and hygiene and sanitation kits for households,” said Roba Halake, Senior Humaniterian Manager at Save the Children
Roba further said that “Obviously there are people that were displaced by the drought we are supporting, on top of that now we have people that have been displaced by conflict and this thinly spreads the resource that we have. The external funding environment is challenging not only for us but for all agencies that work in humanitarian response.”
Save the Children currently provides support for the displaced population with a focus on displaced children. The Agency does its response work following already existing operational footprints. “Funding these days is a problem. Save the Children is doing its best to find ways to address those problems in terms of fund raising, we are continuing our efforts to fundraise and respond to all emerging humanitarian crisis,” Roba said.
Speaking on the Acute Watery Diarrhea (AWD), Save the Children is responding in four regions with the highest number of cases seen in the Somali Region and smaller outbreaks in the Tigray, Afar and Amhara Regions.
“We are working very closely with the regional health bureau and I think one of the positive things that has come is that the regional health bureaus and health staff has gained a lot of experience through these responses, so when there are new outbreaks, we are able to respond more quickly and more effectively,” said Sam Wood, Humanitarian Director at Save the Children.
He also noted that the Agency is not just providing curative treatments to people once they have contracted AWD, but also preventative with health messages to insure people keep themselves safe.
Answering question regarding death rate from AWD, Wood stated “We don’t record data about death so we do not have information about that but we have certainly seen a large number of people contracting AWD and the risks are very significant if you don’t respond quickly. Our focus has been strengthening systems so we can respond quickly and prevent unnecessary deaths.”