Ethiopia

2012 UNHCR country operations profile - Ethiopia

Working environment

The context

Ethiopia shares borders with six countries in a region where political, social and environmental challenges continue to cause massive displacement. As a result, the past three years have seen almost a three-fold increase in the number of refugees in the country. While the majority of these refugees are from Somalia, there are also large numbers of Sudanese and Eritrean refugees. In 2011 conflict in the Three Protocol Areas between Sudan and South Sudan saw a new surge of refugees from that region entering western Ethiopia. Despite the many challenges it faces, however, Ethiopia has remained a generous country of asylum.

By July 2011, some 67 per cent of the refugees within the country, or 160,000 people, were of Somali origin. Six new refugee camps have been opened to accommodate Somalis in the past five years, with two camps in eastern Ethiopia, near Jijiga, and four in the south-east, around Dollo Ado. The number of new arrivals increased dramatically in 2011 due to the combined effects of drought, famine and insecurity in Somalia, with up to 23,000 people arriving per month during the year.

The vast majority of these new arrivals were women and children in extremely poor health; children in particular were severely affected by acute malnutrition. The enormous challenges created by this massive influx initially threatened to overwhelm the Government and UNHCR, but the situation was brought under control with the generous support of donors and the contributions of NGO partners, IOM, and other UN agencies.

Disputes inside Sudan, especially in the Blue Nile and South Kordofan states, remained unresolved and violence caused further displacement. In September, some 20,000 people fled violence in Blue Nile State, and sought protection across the border in the Benishangul-Gumuz Regional State in western Ethiopia. This prompted UNHCR and partners, in particular the Ethiopian Administration for Refugee and Returnee Affairs (ARRA), IOM, UNICEF and WFP to activate the Contingency Plan for Sudanese refugees in Ethiopia. UNHCR is monitoring closely for the possibility of return if the situation changes.

The number of refugees arriving from Eritrea has also remained high. Of particular concern is a large -- and growing -- group of unaccompanied minors from Eritrea. Opportunities for greater self-reliance and interaction with the host community have been made available to some of the Eritrean refugee population through an out-of-camp scheme, which came into effect in 2010. Others have benefited from resettlement.

The needs

In light of the prevailing conditions across Ethiopia's borders, particularly in Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan, UNHCR does not foresee any large-scale returns in 2012. On the contrary, it is expected that new arrivals will to continue to seek asylum in Ethiopia. At the end of July 2011, the refugee population numbered some 240,000, but could exceed 400,000 by the end of 2012, mainly due to new arrivals from Somalia and Sudan.

UNHCR will work with its partners to provide international protection and basic humanitarian assistance to the new arrivals. When necessary, ARRA and UNHCR will establish new camps. The Office will also work to reach minimum acceptable standards in a number of critical sectors, such as water and sanitation, shelter, education and health, in the existing camps.

In areas that formerly hosted Sudanese refugees, UNHCR will implement a multi-year Post-Repatriation Project, aimed at rehabilitating the environment and upgrading essential services and infrastructure. Such activities are designed to recognize and compensate for some of the burden shouldered by local communities, and are important to promote acceptance and protection of refugees.

Despite restrictions on local integration, UNHCR and its partners will also need to undertake activities for urban refugees that can contribute to their self-sufficiency.

Main objectives and targets for 2012

Fair protection processes and documentation

The standard of registration and profiling is improved or maintained.

• All people of concern are registered on an individual basis.

Security from violence and exploitation

The risk of sexual and gender-based violence is reduced and the quality of the response to it is improved.

• All refugee sites establish mechanisms and standard operating procedures to prevent and respond to sexual and gender-based violence
• Victims of sexual and gender-based violence receive medical treatment and counselling

Basic needs and services

Health status of the population improves or remains stable

• The under-five mortality rate is less than two per 10,000 infants per day.

The supply of potable water is increased or maintained.

• An average of 15 litres per person per day is provided in all camps.

The nutritional well-being of populations of concern is improved.

• The prevalence of global acute malnutrition among children aged between six months and five years is reduced to 5 per cent.

Strategy and activities in 2012

The main focus of UNHCR's activities in 2012 will be to provide life-saving assistance, deliver essential services to meet refugees' basic needs, and ensure international protection standards are maintained. Health and nutrition will be a priority sector. As the emergency levels of 2011 are stabilized, and barring any large new emergencies, UNHCR will focus on maintaining minimum standards. This will be achieved through continued emphasis on coordination, diagnosis and improved reporting, as well as the decentralization of health services in particularly affected camps.

Providing water will be another key activity in 2012, endeavouring to achieve and maintain minimum standards across all sites. The same applies to shelter, with 2012 seeing a shift from emergency shelter to the introduction of transitional models and more durable shelter in many camps. Camps that were built in the past to host Somali and Eritrean refugees also urgently need to be improved as do educational facilities and registration, as well as measures in response to sexual and gender-based violence, child protection needs and environmental rehabilitation.

Using the ProGres database, UNHCR will continue to aim to maintain a high standard of refugee registration in 2012. It will identify and record the specific needs of individuals for better planning and response.

To support the self-reliance of refugees, UNHCR will work through partners with expertise in livelihoods and self-reliance to offer training and entrepreneurial opportunities and income-support schemes such as backyard gardening. The out-of-camp scheme available to Eritrean refugees will be promoted for a greater number, especially third-level students who will be able to access the formal employment market.

UNHCR and partners will also undertake activities with partners for refugees in urban settings aimed at a greater level of self reliance. For many, resettlement will remain the only durable solution and, as such, an important element of UNHCR's comprehensive protection and durable-solutions strategy in Ethiopia. Finally, efforts will be made to assist the voluntary repatriation of Kenyan refugees of Borena origin.

Constraints

Local integration continues to be a challenge for both refugees in urban areas and in the longer-established camps as the Government does not yet allow for this. However, a number of activities to improve the level of refugee self-reliance, for example the DAR (Development Assistance for Refugees) approach in the Jijiga camps, have shown positive results. This area needs major investment, however, for the approach to be sustainable in the longer-term.

The chronic security and political challenges faced by Ethiopia's neighbours are major constraints, as they result in the displacement of many people into Ethiopia and limit return possibilities.

The majority of the refugee camps are located in areas characterised by extremely fragile environmental conditions. The concentration of large numbers of refugees has a negative impact on the immediate environment of the camps and the camps' hinterland. In addition, conflicts arise where refugees compete with the local population over scarce natural resources. Recurrent drought and high costs of fuel and food are further important constraints.

Organization and implementation

Coordination

UNHCR coordinates protection and the delivery of services to refugees in close collaboration with ARRA. A Standing Task Force on refugees jointly-led by ARRA and UNHCR acts as a coordination forum for NGOs and other UN agencies. Sectoral meetings are held regularly to discuss new developments and provide solutions to challenges in the field.

UNHCR is part of the UNDAF process and several new initiatives have resulted in partnerships on issues such as combating trafficking (with UNFPA and IOM), enhanced education opportunities for Somali girls (with UNFPA), and environmental protection (with FAO). WFP continues to provide general food rations to refugees in all the camps. For the Somali emergency in Dollo Ado, a cooperation framework has been established between UNICEF and UNHCR in the areas of nutrition; Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH); and child protection. In addition, UNFPA and WHO have entered into partnership with UNHCR in the areas of sexual and gender-based violence and health.

Financial information

Due to the rising number of refugees in Ethiopia, budget requirements have increased significantly over the last five years. In 2010 and 2011, the budgets stood at USD 100.2 million and USD 196.9 million, respectively. Requirements for protection and assistance needs following a sudden influx of Somali refugees into the country were included in a supplementary budget, for which a funding appeal was launched in July 2011. A major component of the 2012 budget will cover costs for new refugee camps and the provision of assistance, including core relief items, food, health and nutrition, shelter, water and sanitation and associated logistics. The total budget for 2012 amounts to USD 185.1 million.

Source: UNHCR Global Appeal 2012-2013