2.1 mn people in Ethiopia in need of humanitarian assistance: UN

Addis Ababa: The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) disclosed on Sunday that around 2.1 million people in Ethiopia's eastern Somali regional state are in need of humanitarian assistance.

In a bi-weekly humanitarian bulletin report, the UNOCHA disclosed 2.1 million drought-affected people in the Somali regional state need humanitarian assistance, the Xinhua news agency reported.

The UNOCHA disclosed the drying up of traditional water sources as well as the availability of limited functional water boreholes in the drought-affected areas, has meant water trucking schemes are urgently needed.

This is in addition to various food and non-food humanitarian assistance the UNOCHA needs to meet the needs of the more than two million needy people in the state.

"At least $65.5 million is required to cover all identified needs," the UNOCHA disclosed.

Conflict, drought, and seasonal floods have contributed to internal displacement in Ethiopia's Somali regional state and elsewhere.

The humanitarian needs in the country have also been exacerbated by the outbreak of the Covid-19 disease.

Ethiopia currently has the largest number of Covid-19 cases in east Africa, as well as the fifth-highest number of Covid-19 cases in the African continent as a whole.

Ethiopia currently has recorded 208,961 Covid-19 cases and 2,890 Covid-19 related deaths as of Sunday noon.

(inputs from IANS)