ADDIS ABABA, April 13 (Xinhua) -- The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) on Tuesday warned factors including the continued economic impact of COVID-19 and below-average rainfall threaten to exacerbate the humanitarian situation in Ethiopia.
In an emergency appeal document, the IFRC said that climate shocks, devastating desert locust infestation, the continued economic impact of COVID-19, below-average rainfall projected for 2021 particularly in the south and south-eastern parts of Ethiopia threaten to exacerbate food insecurity and other humanitarian needs, while also increasing the risk for violence as communities compete for even more limited water resources.
Ethiopia has recorded 230,944 COVID-19 cases as of Tuesday morning, with 3,208 COVID-19 inflicted deaths.
In January, the Ethiopian government and partners disclosed there are 12.9 million Ethiopians facing acute levels of food insecurity and requiring emergency food aid.
The IFRC also said the ongoing unrest in Ethiopia's northern Tigray regional state is further increasing the humanitarian burden in the east African country. It noted that armed violence in Tigray regional state since November has uprooted hundreds of thousands of people across Tigray, leaving people in urgent need of emergency shelter and basic household items.
Fighting that erupted in early November last year in Ethiopia's Tigray between the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), which used to rule the regional state, and the Ethiopian National Defense Forces has left thousands of people killed and caused immense losses in the region.
According to Ethiopian government figures, the conflict in Tigray has displaced around 2.2 million people, while 4.5 million people are in need of emergency aid. Enditem
