OCHA Situation Report
Ethiopia
26 November 2007


Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Sir JOHN HOLMES, USG AND ERC, TO VISIT ETHIOPIA

The United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and 
Emergency Relief Coordinator, Sir John Holmes, will visit Ethiopia from 
26 to 28 November. The mission aims to discuss the country's 
humanitarian needs and challenges and determine ways in which the United 
Nations system and its partners can continue to support the Government's 
efforts to address the needs. During his visit, the ERC will meet with 
the Prime Minister and other senior Government officials, the diplomatic 
community, donor mission, NGOs and the UN humanitarian team. The ERC 
will also travel to Jijiga and Kebridehar in the Somali Region, where 
the UN has recently established a field presence. During his trip, he 
will assess ongoing humanitarian operations in the region and discuss 
current humanitarian challenges with regional Government officials, and 
representatives of local communities. Meanwhile, emergency operations 
are ongoing in the region. As of 23 November, more than 7,000 tonnes of 
relief has been dispatched. Restocking of medical supplies in ten health 
facilities by UNICEF has been completed. The Regional Health Bureau has 
drafted distribution plans to allocate the drugs. The initial five 
mobile health teams deployed to the region completed a two -week 
induction training and have now started operations in four woredas of 
Gode, Kelafo, Mustahil, Imi. An additional ten teams are awaiting 
clearance from Government before deployment. For more information 
contact: ocha-eth@un.org & wfp.addisababa@wfp.org

Un Heads Of Agency Mission to Gambella Region

In light of the complex development challenges faced by Gambella Region, 
UN Country Team Heads of Agency visited the region during the week. The 
mission aimed to assess and plan, in collaboration with local 
authorities, on how best to design a joint interagency programme to 
address the priority social and developmental needs of the community. 
Among other issues, the team assessed ongoing UN activities in the 
region and attempted to identify possible pilot joint UN programme 
initiatives that bridges the transition from emergency to development 
based on a community based approach. Furthermore, the team reviewed 
UNHCR's Voluntary Repatriation Program in the regional context, 
including possible use of assets under the ongoing refugee operation. 
Since the start of the repatriation in March 2006, a total of 21,020 
refugees have been assisted to return to Southern Sudan. For more 
information contact: rr.rc@undp.org

AWD Update

Although new cases were reported from Oromiya, SNNP, Tigray, Afar, 
Amhara and Somali regions during last week, nationwide, Acute Watery 
Diarrhea (AWD) cases are decreasing. In Oromiya Region, a significant 
reduction was reported in the number of woredas reporting active cases. 
In addition, to replenish the regional stocks of Amhara, Oromiya, 
Tigray, Somali, Beneshangul Gumuz and Afar, US$15,000 worth of drugs and 
medical supplies are being procured. For more information contact: 
who-wro@et.afro.who.int

Positive Crop Production Prospect

WFP in its November Food security update indicated "an above average" 
meher production prospect across the country. The FAO/WFP crop and food 
supply assessment missions are expected to verify the positive prospect. 
Some areas, however, will face poor harvest as a result of weather 
related hazards and locust infestations. The report also indicated water 
shortage in Mio, Moyale, Dhas, Dilo, Teltele and Arero woredas in Borena 
zone, Oromiya Region. Increased migration of people from some of these 
areas due to poor performance of the last genna and the current hagaye 
rains has also been reported. Meanwhile, Locust infestation on crops and 
pasture continued to be reported in Amhara, Tigray and Somali regions. 
According to the report, following the beginning of meher harvest, 
prices of grain have slightly declined in most markets, apart from Dire 
Dawa and Somali Region. For more information contact: 
wfp.addisababa@wfp.org

TSF Update

The multilateral funds of the Netherlands for the Targeted Supplementary 
Feeding Programme has confirmed contributions of 1,024 tonnes of 
vegetable oil in support of the Enhanced Outreach Strategy for Child 
Survival. The contribution is expected to arrive in Djibouti in January 
2008. In the meantime, to meet identified needs for remaining 
distributions in 2007, WFP is finalizing preparations to borrow oil 
locally. Critical shortage of an estimated 12,580 tonnes of blended food 
and 1,437 tonnes of vegetable oil, valued US$ 9.7 million, still stands 
for January 2008. This is required to provide supplementary food to 
629,107 beneficiaries in six regions. For more information contact: 
wfp.addisababa@wfp.org

CERF Training

A half-day training on the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) took 
place on 23 November 2007. The training mainly focused on the overall 
objectives of CERF, funding criteria, its allocation process and 
reporting system. Specific agency proposal were also discussed, and best 
practices highlighted. Ethiopia is the 7th largest recipient in the 
world of CERF resources up-to-date, having received approximately US$ 21 
million. For more information contact: ocha-eth@un.org

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