HIGHLIGHTS
DAA Esposito travels to Ethiopia to assess the response
Approximately 1.7 million households require meher seed assistance
Case incidence of AWD decreases in most areas
KEY DEVELOPMENTS
From April 15–21, Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator (DAA) for USAID’s Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance (USAID/DCHA) Dina Esposito visited Ethiopia to assess the drought response and meet with Government of Ethiopia (GoE) officials, key donor representatives, and relief organizations. DAA Esposito also met with Eritrean refugees in Tigray Region and drought-affected communities in Oromiya and Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples (SNNP) regions.
The population requiring emergency seed assistance continues to increase, according to the GoE and relief organizations. By March, the GoE and relief organizations reported that approximately 1.7 million households required emergency seed interventions—a more than threefold increase compared to the approximately 477,000 households identified in the 2016 Humanitarian Requirements Document (HRD).
In mid-April, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) reported that incidences of acute watery diarrhea (AWD) had decreased in most of the affected areas in Oromiya, SNNP, and Somali regions.