• Crisis Severity ?
    4.3
    0 Very low
    Very high 5
  • Impact ?
    4.0
    0 Very low
    Very high 5
  • Humanitarian Conditions ?
    4.5
    0 Very low
    Very high 5
  • Complexity ?
    4.2
    0 Very low
    Very high 5
  • Access Constraints ?
    5.0
    No constraints
    Extreme constraints
See all indicators

Special Reports

04/11/2021

Overview

03/08/2022

Fighting initially broke out in Tigray in November 2020 between Tigrayan forces on one side and the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF), the Eritrean Defence Forces, and allied regional special forces on the other. The conflict was localised to Tigray region between November 2020 and June 2021 before expanding to Afar and Amhara regions.?

At the end of June 2021, a shift in conflict dynamics (including the ENDF’s withdrawal from Tigray) dramatically changed the operational context. Access within Tigray has improved since early July 2021, but access into Tigray remains severely restricted. There is only one viable road for humanitarian transport into Tigray through Afar, with sporadic cargo movement and limited air travel for humanitarian staff. The consequent lack of humanitarian supplies, fuel shortages, and reduced cash availability hamper the humanitarian response in Tigray. Telecommunications, internet, and electricity blackouts persist across the region. Commercial movement in and out of the region has not been possible since July 2021.?

Between mid-July and December 2021, Tigrayan forces were advancing towards Amhara and Afar regions, resulting in increased access constraints and humanitarian needs in both regions. Conflict increased food insecurity, large-scale displacement, and the lack of access to essential services. Despite the withdrawal of Tigrayan forces starting in December 2021, the presence of armed forces and the threat of escalation keep the security situation along the regional border areas unpredictable. ?

Since the start of the conflict, the population in Tigray has experienced mass killings, human rights abuses, violence against civilians, sexual and gender-based violence, and arbitrary detention, resulting in high protection needs. There have also been similar reports of human rights violations in Amhara and Afar, especially since the spread of fighting in July 2021.?

Latest Developments

17/03/2023

No significant recent humanitarian developments. This crisis is being monitored by our analysis team.

Humanitarian Access

10/12/2020

 

KEY PRIORITIES

19/10/2022

Food: severe food insecurity has resulted from displacement, movement restrictions, supply constraints, the loss of harvest and livelihoods, and disrupted markets. As at July 2022, 13 million people needed food assistance across all three regions. This number is a considerable increase from the nine million who needed food assistance in northern Ethiopia in November 2021. ?

Health: an estimated 3.9 million people in Tigray and ten million in Amhara need access to healthcare, which has drastically worsened since the start of conflict. Health facilities have been looted and destroyed, rendering the majority non-functional. Other health concerns include the lack of supplies for the treatment of chronic health issues and disease outbreaks.?

Nutrition: severe acute malnutrition rates are rising across the three regions, but a lack of clarity on the number of people screened for malnutrition per week, combined with issues of access to people in need, limits the understanding of the scale of the issue over time.?

WASH: roughly 70,500 IDPs living in collective sites in Tigray and more than 336,000 IDPs across 11 sites in Afar require water trucking. Fuel shortages and access constraints are among the issues preventing the sufficient distribution of WASH services and NFIs and the proper functionality of WASH infrastructure.?                

Shelter: emergency shelter and NFI needs are high because of mass displacement, particularly after the spread of the Tigray conflict into Afar and Amhara and the reopening of schools that sheltered IDPs. Supply chain disruptions are causing NFI shortages. ?

INFORMATION GAPS

03/08/2022
  • Because of limited access and communications blackouts, the extent of the needs in northern Ethiopia is hard to determine. 
  • There is a lack of recent food security data, especially in Tigray.
  • There is a lack of information on displacement in Tigray given the lack of fuel in the region.
  • Displacement figures for Amhara and Afar are unknown because of a lack of government capacity, access constraints, and multiple displacements.

17/03/2023

 

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Source: OCHA 09/08/2022
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