ADDIS ABABA, April 10 (Xinhua) -- The Ethiopian government on Wednesday disclosed ongoing efforts to sustainably rehabilitate more than 2 million internally displaced peoples (IDPs) across the East African country.
The Ethiopian Ministry of Peace, during an ongoing discussion with members of international donor community being held to leverage joint-rehabilitation efforts in the country, also appealed for up to 700 million U.S. dollars of financial assistance to fund the rehabilitation of some 2 million displaced people who were affected by conflict and natural disasters.
The Ethiopian government had recently established a national steering committee, led by the Ethiopian Ministry of Peace, to facilitate the national efforts that envisaged to sustainably rehabilitate the country's displaced people.
The national steering committee brings together seven Ethiopian ministries together with the Ethiopian Federal Police and Attorney General's Office, which seeks to create an enabling environment where the returnees will be rehabilitated effectively.
Appealing for close to 700 million U.S. dollars, the Ethiopian government also on Tuesday revealed the allocation of 24.6 million U.S. dollars from domestic financial sources to help rehabilitate the displaced.
Ethiopia was spared significant climate-related calamities last year, but spikes in conflict-induced displacements, which led to a near doubling of internally displaced population, contributed to high humanitarian response needs in 2019.
The latest financial appeal by the Ethiopian government came as the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) last week warned of a looming food crisis in eastern Africa, where 10.7 million people are currently food insecure.
The East African bloc, IGAD, stressed that "immediate action is needed" following a foreseen high risk of worsening food insecurity in parts of Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Uganda if forecasted rainfall deficits materialize.
