Drought has devastated communities in Afar, Amhara, Tigray, and Oromia regions, as well as the Ethiopian People's Region in the south and southwest.
Severe water shortages, dry pastures and reduced yields are affecting millions of people and livestock, with reports of increased food insecurity and malnutrition.
Among the particularly vulnerable are those affected by the two-year conflict in Tigray, which ended in 2022, the United Nations and authorities said in a joint statement Thursday.
numbers will go up
More than six million people across the affected areas have already received food and cash, but large gaps remain, OCHA warned.
The number of severely food insecure people is expected to continue to rise in the coming months, reaching a peak of 10.8 million during the July-September food shortage season, according to a recent joint assessment by governments and humanitarian organizations. has been done.
Malnutrition rates in parts of Afar, Amhara, Tigray and other regions have already exceeded globally recognized crisis standards, but do not currently reflect a famine-like situation. .
“While the situation is already alarming in many of these regions, there is an opportunity to avert a serious humanitarian catastrophe through additional funding to urgently scale up and sustain response efforts,” OCHA said. Ta.
Peacekeeper injured in UN helicopter attack in Democratic Republic of Congo
Two South African peacekeepers were injured, one seriously, in an attack on a United Nations helicopter in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Friday.
A helicopter belonging to the United Nations mission MONUSCO was conducting a medical evacuation when it came under fire from suspected members of the M23 armed group in the Kalba region of Masisi territory in North Kivu province.
The helicopter was able to land safely in the regional capital, Goma, and the peacekeepers received medical treatment.
MONUSCO chief Bintu Keita strongly condemned the attack, which comes almost a year after a similar incident in which a South African peacekeeper was killed.
She said the UN mission would work with Congolese authorities and spare no effort to bring the perpetrators to justice.
The head of the United Nations peacekeeping mission expressed regret over the attack. post on social media platform X (formerly Twitter).
He said the UN's “blue helmets” should not be targeted.
Ukraine: Top UN aid official condemns deadly attack on aid workers
Ukraine's UN humanitarian coordinator condemned the deadly attack on aid workers in the country's south.
A Russian drone attack in the Kherson region on Thursday killed two French nationals volunteering with a Swiss non-governmental organization and injured three other foreign nationals, according to media reports.
“I am shocked to hear that their vehicle was attacked in a manner similar to the tragic incident in which aid workers were injured in a collision with a humanitarian aid vehicle in the eastern Ukrainian town of Chasiv Yar just over a week ago. “There is,” Dennis Brown said. Friday's statement.
Last year, 50 aid workers were killed or injured in Ukraine, 11 of whom died in the line of duty.
Brown said “this recurring pattern of attacks appears to have intensified” since the start of the year, with five aid workers injured in January alone.
“This comes at a time when Russian aggression is impacting every aspect of daily life and people in frontline areas are facing an extremely dire humanitarian situation,” she added.
Despite challenges and insecurity, humanitarian workers continue to provide assistance in Ukraine.
On Friday, an interagency convoy delivered three trucks loaded with humanitarian supplies to residents of front-line communities in the Kharkiv region, the United Nations reported.
The items included hygiene kits, thermal blankets, sleeping bags, kitchen sets, evacuation kits, and construction materials to repair damaged homes.