The United Nations said it is providing aid for vulnerable people across Ethiopia as 1.2 million children suffer from acute malnutrition.
The UN, in a statement issued late Friday, attributed to Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, said it is working in collaboration with partners in responding to disease outbreaks and an ongoing food insecurity crisis across the East African country, which has left 1.2 million children suffering severe acute malnutrition.
The country was deeply impacted by a brutal conflict, which began in 2020 across the north between federal government forces and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), although a peace deal between the sides was brokered by the African Union (AU), ending the fighting last November.
Dujarric said humanitarians were providing medical supplies, logistics support and boosting communications efforts in response to a cholera outbreak in Oromia, Sidama and Somali regions.
Dujarric cited Ethiopian government figures, which indicated that more than 16,800 cases of cholera have been reported in the country, including 212 related deaths as of Aug. 2.
“We are also providing medical supplies for the response to malaria which, as of July 30, has impacted over 1.7 million people and claimed 200 lives,” the statement quoted Dujarric as saying.
He said more than 30 UN agencies and international and national non-governmental organizations are working hard to combat the effects of malnutrition, which remains a concern in several regions including Afar, Amhara, Oromia, Sidama, South West and Tigray regions.
“Our humanitarian colleagues noted that timely food assistance, prepositioning of emergency drugs, and medical supplies for impacted people are necessary,” Dujarric said.
