United Nations Country
Team Ethiopia

 List of International Contributions for Assistance to Severely
Drought Affected Areas of Ethiopia

Prepared by the UN-Emergencies Unit for Ethiopia,  As of 11 August 1999

PART I: Food and Non-food Assistance to Severely Drought Affected Areas of Ethiopia

1. Introduction

Widespread failure of the 1999 belg (short-season) crop and localized losses of the 1998 meher (long season) crop have led to increasing and revised estimates of the number of people affected by food shortage and requiring immediate assistance. From an initial figure of 2,157,080 drought affected people released by the Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Commission (DPPC) in December 1998, the number has now grown to an estimated 5 million people in need of food assistance until at least November 1999. The most recent crop failures are compounding a food scarcity problem that has been mounting for at least the past three years. Farmers in the worst affected areas are now largely destitute, having expended their assets, lost large numbers of livestock, exhausted labour migration possibilities, and resorted to stress migration (characterized by the movement of entire households from their home areas to seek support in the towns through governmental support or, more often, by begging, selling water or fuelwood, or seeking other forms of marginal employment).

The current DPPC estimate of food requirements for people affected by drought for the period June to December 1999 now stands at 386,586 M/T. In response to the critical needs in the most affected areas and in support of the overall government appeal, the World Food Programme has launched an Emergency Operation (EMOP 6143) for assistance to 1.2 million people in eight regions. Donor response has been extremely encouraging so far.

Based on the findings of a joint UN/DPPC assessment carried out in June 1999 as well as other information from the field, the UN Country Team on 12 July issued a Relief Action Plan and Appeal for non-food assistance to people in the most affected areas, which include the zones of South Tigray (Tigray Region), North and South Wello, Wag Hamra (all in Amhara Region), East Harerghe (Oromiya Region) and Konso Special Wereda and Welayita in North Omo Zone (Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region – SNNPR). Proposed inputs in the areas of water and sanitation, nutrition, health and immunization, and agricultural support amount to a total of US$ 7.5 million, $2.2 million of which has now been resourced. In addition to these actions, the NGO and donor community has been active in mobilizing resources in response to the DPPC, the UNCT and other appeals for support to the most affected areas.

Part I of this report provides a first attempt at a comprehensive listing of confirmed contributions from international donors, UN agencies, and NGOs towards addressing the needs of those most affected by food insecurity in this emergency. It includes both food and non-food, cash and in-kind contributions of major international donors, assistance both appealed for and provided for by major implementing agencies.

The report is broken down by sector. Food aid pledges are given, both with respect to the WFP EMOP and the DPPC’s annual appeal. A summary of these combined amounts is also provided. Pledges in the areas of medical support, including expanded immunization coverage (EPI) and supplemental feeding (in this case considered a medical intervention), water and sanitation, agricultural support, and monitoring are also given.

Part II of this report provides a short breakdown of responses towards the food requirements of the internally displaced in Tigray and Afar Regions. While pledges for the drought affected have been forthcoming, pledges for this EMOP remain low, and supply beyond the next two months is precarious.

Food Pledges

WFP’s EMOP for assistance to drought affected areas is for 103,253 M/T of food (93,600 M/T of cereals and the balance being pulses, blended food, and oil). Thus far, total confirmed pledges amount to 87,605 M/T, leaving an unresourced balance of only 5,995 M/T. All of the EMOP’s appeal amount for pulses (3620 M/T) and blended food (6033 M/T) has been fully resourced through contributions from the USA, Spain and WFP’s pledge of US$2.5 million from its Immediate Response Account. In addition, to ensure the commencement of immediate distributions to drought affected areas, WFP, DPPC, MEDAC and MOA have signed an agreement to channel 37,000 M/T through employment generation schemes from WFP food for work resources, with the expectation that this will be repaid should the appeal be fully resourced. The Government of China has also donated $100,000 to the DPPC for food assistance to the drought affected, although this amount has not yet been quantified in tonne amounts.

Confirmed cereal pledges in support of the Government’s overall appeal for 386,856 M/T in support of the drought affected total 369,205 M/T. Outstanding requirements stand at 16,651 M/T. Although the pledged amounts are encouraging, food availability may still pose a problem until deliveries are received. Food may be borrowed from the Ethiopian Food Security Reserve against confirmed pledges; however, current food stock levels in the EFSR remain low.

Supplementary Food

As indicated above, WFP EMOP 6143 includes 6,033 M/T of supplementary food. Subsequent to the launching of the EMOP, however, it became clear that the needs for supplementary food exceeded this amount. Thus, in the UNCT Appeal, it was proposed to provide an additional 1,952 M/T of supplementary food and 370 M/T of oil through a joint WFP/UNICEF programme for children under five and pregnant and lactating women. This food will be procured locally and transported by WFP to 48 of the worst affected weredas. UNICEF will coordinate with the DPPC and Ministry of Health to identify those most at risk for appropriate targeting and distribution and will be responsible for monitoring. A request made to the US Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) for 700 M/T is pending. The remainder remains unresourced. For programming and monitoring, UNICEF has reprogrammed $14,600 from its own resources.

In addition to the supplementary food requested in the UNCT appeal, several NGOs have received funds through their own special appeals to donors to provide blended foods and other commodities in their project areas. A preliminary listing of these contributions are given below; agencies that have received additional contributions not listed below are urged to communicate these to UN-EUE. In addition to the blended foods being provided by SCF/UK with OFDA funds, OFDA will also fund the continuation and expansion of SCF-UK’s nutritional surveillance programme. This will enable the NSP to be restarted in East and West Harerghe. Training of SCF and DPPD staff (who will work with SCF in this respect) has already begun as part of SCF/UK’s capacity building programme with DPPC.

Health, medical supplies and EPI

4.1 Expanded EPI

Of the $609,000 requested for support to the Ministry of Health’s EPI programme in the most severely affected areas, UNICEF has reprogrammed $358,000 from its own resources, and has submitted a proposal to OFDA which is currently pending. Although below the total amount appealed for, these inputs are expected to cover the most crucial of the EPI requirements (provision of cold-storage equipment and logistical support, supplementary vaccines and supplies).

4.2 Medical Support

WHO and UNFPA have appealed for a total of $2,210,688 for medical support to health care facilities in the worst affected areas. To date, WHO-Geneva has confirmed an additional $100,000 for support to malaria control and is discussing with the Ethiopian Government a reallocation of $200,000 for capacity building and training programmes.

In addition to these inputs, Medecins Sans Frontiéres-France has appealed for $30,000 for supplementary feeding, measles vaccines, and medical support to North Wello. Pending contributions, MSF-F has already begun some of these interventions with its own funds.

Water and Environmental Sanitation

The UNCT Appeal included $1,773,000 for emergency rehabilitation of water points and environmental sanitation in areas where the health conditions of the affected population are particularly vulnerable. Thus far, UNICEF has confirmed the reallocation of $353,000 for rehabilitation of water points in East Harerghe. UNDP has also confirmed that it has reallocated $43,000 for water point rehabilitation in East Harerghe. A proposal to OFDA for provision of emergency water in East Harerghe, Konso, and North Wello is pending. The proposal also covers support to urban sanitation efforts in North Wello.

Blanket provision

A proposal by UNICEF to provide 12,000 blankets in conjunction with the supplementary food distribution programme (distributed to vulnerable children under five and pregnant and lactating women) has been submitted to OFDA and is pending.

Agricultural Support

In an effort to assist farmers affected by the failure of the 1998 meher harvest and 1999 belg harvest in replanting their fields this year and to prevent further livestock losses, FAO appealed through the UNCT Appeal for $1,008,000. FAO has made available $425,000 for seed purchases (late planting and short cycle crops for the meher season). UNDP has made available to FAO $80,000 for transport of both fodder and seeds as well as technical support. A portion of the transport allocation will be used to assist the DPPD in South Wello to transport donated by-products from the Kombolcha Brewery to weredas where livestock losses have been the greatest.

In addition to the agricultural support provided for in the UNCT Appeal, several NGOs have organized seed distributions through their own or donor resources. The programmes listed below are likely to be incomplete; organisations not included here but who are engaged in seed distribution or credit schemes in the most severely affected areas are encouraged to communicate relevant information to UN-EUE for inclusion in later updates. Monitoring and Reporting

In the UNCT Action Plan/Appeal, the UN Emergencies Unit for Ethiopia proposed to expand its ongoing field monitoring and reporting functions to provide the following services: (1) Analysis and reporting on the wider humanitarian and social consequences of the drought; (2) Monitoring and reporting on the implementation of the UNCT programme in the field; (3) Preparation of periodic and final narrative donor reports for donors contributing to the UNCT; (4) General coordination of the response vis-à-vis the UNCT member agencies and the general humanitarian community (including donors and NGOs). The Swiss Government, through Swiss Disaster Relief, has pledged to cover the costs of employing two local consultants for three months (at a total cost of $18,000) and a proposal has been submitted to OFDA for an international field/coordination consultant to be employed as well (total proposal cost of $34,500). This proposal is pending.
 

Special Logistics

In support of emergency logistics needs in several of the most affected areas, UNDP has requested $20,000 from Trac 1.1.3 emergency resources to cover short-term rental of vehicles for government staff. These vehicles will be used to improve monitoring of general conditions and distribution of relief items as well as for enhanced coordination between weredas and zones.

Other Appeals

Member agencies of the Joint Relief Programme (JRP) have submitted a joint appeal to ACT for 101,979.55 M/T of mixed commodities for distribution in their respective project areas. This appeal is based on government figures of people in need. The request has been forwarded to Geneva and is pending.

Summary of Nonfood Needs and Responses to UNCT Appeal for the Drought

As indicated above, food needs for the WFP EMOP for assistance to the drought affected stand at 87,605 M/T (including a 30,000 M/T pending pledge from the EU). Total non-food contributions towards the UNCT Action Plan/Appeal stand at $2,210,700, including both confirmed and pending pledges. This amount is 30% of the total appealed for. Potential donors are urged to consider the remaining needs in light of available resources. A final update on contributions towards the appeal will be made by late September.
 


Table 12. Summary of Nonfood Needs and Responses to UNCT Appeal for the Drought

Food and Non-food Requirements Appeal Amount Response Outstanding Requirement
I. Food      
Food Requirement (WFP EMOP 6143)
103,253 M/T (cereals & non-cereals)
87,605 M/T
5,995 M/T
II. Non-food      
Supplementary Food
$1,500,584
$414,600
$1,085,984
Health
2,819,688
590,550
2,229,138
Blankets
330,000
135,300
194,700
Water and Sanitation
1,773,000
547,250
1,225,750
Agriculture
1,008,000
505,000
503,000
Monitoring
18,000
18,000
0
Total Non-food 
$7,449,272
$2,210,700
$5,238,572

PART II: Food Assistance to the Internally Displaced

According to the DPPC, cereal requirements for the 384,858 displaced people in Tigray and Afar regions until September total 38,558 M/T. WFP EMOP 6080 for 36,720 M/T of cereals (plus 8631 M/T of non-cereal and supplementary food, has had the following response:

Table 13. Food Assistance to the Internally Displaced
WFP EMOP 6080 for IDPs – Cereals – appeal amount 36,720 M/T – balance unresourced 26,206 M/T
USDA
10,000
 Confirmed  
Japan
514
 Confirmed  
WFP EMOP 6080 for IDPs – Supplementary and non-cereal food –appeal amount 8631 M/T – balance unresourced 543 M/T
Japan
736
 Confirmed  368 M/T sugar, 368 M/T salt
USAID
2550
 Confirmed supp. food and vegoil
USAID
3000
 Confirmed pulses and vegoil
Netherlands
1802
 Confirmed pulses and supplementary food

WFP has expressed concern that existing stocks for distribution to the displaced will be exhausted within the next two months and additional contributions are urgently needed.

A complete update on both food and non-food contributions to the displaced is currently being prepared by UN-EUE and will be distributed in mid-August.

List of Acronyms
 
ACT Action by Churches Together
CRDA Christian Relief and Development Association
CRS Catholic Relief Services
DFID Department for International Development (UK)
DPPC Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Commission
DPPD Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Department (zonal level)
EECMY Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus
EFSR Ethiopian Food Security Reserve
EMOP Emergency Operation 
EPI Expanded Programme of Immunization
EU European Union
FAO Food and Agricultural Organization
IDP Internally Displaced Person
IRA Immediate Response Account (WFP)
IFRC  International Federation of the Red Cross
JRP Joint Relief Programme
LWF Lutheran World Federation
MEDAC Ministry of External Development and Cooperation
MOA Ministry of Agriculture
MSFF Medecins Sans Frontiéres-France
M/T Metric Tonne
NCA Norwegian Church Aid
OFDA Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (US)
SCF/UK Save the Children UK
SNNPR Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples Region
UNCT United Nations Country Team
UNDP United Nations Development Programme
UN-EUE United Nations Emergency Unit for Ethiopia
UNFPA United Nations Population Fund
UNICEF  United Nations Childrens Fund
USAID United States Agency for International Development
USDA United States Department of Agriculture
WFP World Food Programme
WHO World Health Organization EUE 11/08/99