January 2023 — Ethiopia is experiencing one of the most severe La Niña-induced droughts in the last forty years following four consecutive failed rainy seasons since late 2020. More than 8 million pastoralists and agro-pastoralists in Ethiopia are affected by the drought. The huge loss of livestock caused severe child food poverty, with a 24 per cent increase in Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) admissions for under 5 children in drought-impacted areas between January- June 2022 compared to the same period in 2021. In this regard, UNICEF initiated a multisectoral response with a focus on the internally displaced person (IDP) to support a government-led nutrition and resilience-building programme in conflict and drought-affected zones of Ethiopia, across three regions – Oromia, SNNPR and Somali.

To address risky practices and poor attitudes of the affected individuals and to create demand for emergency supplies, services and assistance among affected communities, the UNICEF Ethiopia SBC section employed a mix of approaches including capacity building of volunteers, social workers, mother-to-mother support groups and community platforms on IPC, the rollout of immunization campaign and back to learning campaign, community dialogue and house to house visits by volunteers. Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA) is also a key humanitarian and protection concern in drought-impacted areas in Ethiopia. The SBC section conducted training for partner staff on Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA), established community-based PSEA reporting mechanisms and disseminated knowledge on PSEA among the affected population.

With the support of increased SBC interventions at the community level, over 1.4 million people were reached and over 465K were engaged in drought-affected regions. Unvaccinated and defaulted children were traced and linked to health facilities and got vaccinated. School dropout and absenteeism decreased, and school enrolment increased in the implementation areas. There is an improvement in latrines construction and appropriate use and in community demand regarding service utilization. The SBC section will conduct assessments in intervention areas to understand the change process and expand the interventions to more drought-affected zones.