By Mary Mwendwa
Leading humanitarian actors are in Ethiopia for a visit to call for urgent needed action to save lives of millions of people caught in Ethiopia’s worst drought crisis in decades.
The delegations, who are members of HelpAge global network, convened various meetings with donors, government authorities and like-minded humanitarian organizations in Ethiopia. Furthermore, they travelled to meet with drought affected communities to observe the impacts of the drought and consequent floods as well as the difference the HelpAge emergency response interventions are making.
According to an assessments conducted by humanitarian actors in March 2016 the number of people in need of urgent humanitarian assistance has increased since August 2015 from 4.5 million to 10.2 million, with the older women constituting the largest proportion.
While acknowledging support given to Ethiopia so far, Dr Prafulla Mishra, Regional Director HelpAge International, Kate Bunting, CEO, HelpAge USA, and Chris Roles, Managing Director, Age International said in Addis Ababa that the support does not go far enough and may leave out “most at risk within the Ethiopia society”.
Shifiti Bedane, 77 could not hide her joy after HelpAge visited her, “I thank you for travelling far distances to hear about the challenge this community and especially older people are facing. Sharing in our pain even in words, helps. It is very comforting.”
Dr Mishra said an assessment report by the HelpAge International and other humanitarian actors in the country shows that particularly hard hit by the ongoing crisis are older persons-headed homes.
“Older persons with reduced mobility have to walk longer distances to find firewood, water and food for their families and livestock and sometimes return home with nothing to sleep on empty stomachs. It also means older persons are more likely to be absent during distributions, which is particularly problematic for older women-headed households”, he said.
Because of the drought that has been occasioned by the El Nino phenomenon, the average overall household dietary diversity has sharply declined from nine (9) to five (5) points (56% decline) meaning a decline in the capacity for households to access a variety of required foods. In addition, there is a notable increase in the prices of staple foods (cereals, pulses and tubers) and refined products with an average increase of 19% and 20% respectively.
The 2015 El Niño is likely to be followed by record high temperatures in 2016. It is also possible that there will be a La Niña, whose impacts can vary widely, but which contributed to the 2011 Horn of Africa drought.
HelpAge recommends a 200 Birr per month per individual targeting highly vulnerable, older persons and those living with disabilities-headed households for food and other essential services. This amount will be sufficient enough for households with limited access to markets to meet the minimum dietary requirements and associated costs (transport, milling and fuel).
