UNHCR faces funding shortfall in Ethiopia

Addis Ababa, March 20 (IANS) The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said that it has only received 13 per cent of the $205 million it wants to meet the needs of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees in Ethiopia.

In its latest Northern Ethiopia Emergency update report, the UNHCR said it has received only $25.9 million out of the $205.4 million it wants to meet the needs of 93,500 refugees and asylum seekers in Ethiopia, as well as 2.6 million IDPs, reports Xinhua news agency.

The funds are needed to meet the shelter, education, health as well as water and sanitation needs of refugees and IDPs in Ethiopia, the UN agency disclosed.

UNHCR further disclosed that it has recently voluntarily returned 12,222 IDPs to their areas of origin in safety and dignity.

It also provided core relief items to 41,000 refugees, returnees and affected populations in northern Ethiopia.

Ethiopia is the third largest refugee-hosting country in Africa, sheltering 806,374 registered refugees and asylum seekers, mostly from South Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea and Sudan, according to UNHCR figures.

The country also has several million IDPs, including 2.2 million who were forced to flee the conflict that broke out in November 2020, in the northern Tigray regional state.