Ethiopia: help for the drought affected

For two years, the border region between Tigray and Afar in Ethiopia has been affected by ongoing fighting. "The current situation is worrying," reports Katrin-Maria Jullien, office manager of Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe in Nairobi. The partner organization APDA from Ethiopia reports ongoing fighting in the border region between Tigray and Afar: The town of Aba'ala has been bombed by rebels several times, most recently in September. Thousands of families have fled and lost their belongings through looting. Around 7,000 houses have been destroyed. In addition, large parts of the country are affected by the worst drought in decades. Four rainy seasons have already failed. We are helping with our partners on the ground and supporting displaced people with food and vouchers, among other things.

This is how we help

• In order to provide psychosocial support to victims of violence, we train trainers in the topics of violence prevention and trauma management. More community members are being trained in protection against gender-based violence.

• We distribute seeds, agricultural equipment and livestock such as goats so that people can start their own production and build a livelihood.

• To alleviate acute hunger, we distribute food to 4,000 people with our partners. Another 310 households receive vouchers so they can buy cooking accessories such as pots.

• We are improving hygiene and setting up mobile latrines with bathrooms and hand-washing stations.

• We are also training ten agricultural community workers to improve local food production in the medium term. Each community worker then advises a certain number of farmers on ways to increase crop yields.

Thank you so much for your strong support in this hunger crisis!

Yours

Michael Tuerk