Telling the ECSA Story

A cross-sectional view of the temporary structures that new arrivals from Somalia have built on the edge of Dagahaley. CARE Across Kenya, Ethiopia, and Somalia, the Horn of Africa is experiencing the extreme effects of climate change. Compounded by other factors, the impacts on communities have been catastrophic. CARE calls for the full funding of the Humanitarian Resource Plan in all countries to save lives. The region is facing the worst food crisis in over 40 years, which has left over 31 million people in need of emergency assistance. Due to failed rainy seasons, two locust invasions, conflict, and rising prices of basic commodities in the wake of the Ukraine conflict, communities in the region have been decimated, leading to the migration of over 2.5 million people. Additionally, malnutrition has been on the rise for children in all three countries as families have lost their way of earning a living. In the Horn of Africa, pastoralism used to be one of the key ways of earning a ...

Women gather together for a meeting. CARE International Amidst the rolling landscapes of Oromia’s Borena Zone and Tigray’s Central and Eastern Zones, stories of hope and resilience are emerging. Adi Abduba, a 75-year-old widow with a disability, lives in the remote Boji Kebele, Dhas Woreda (District), in Ethiopia’s Oromia regional state. Like countless others in this arid region, her life has been a relentless struggle against poverty and hunger. A devastating drought wiped out 20 of her family’s cattle, pushing her to the brink of despair. With no food and little hope, Adi faced an uncertain future. “I was experiencing a lot of hardship before receiving the cash,” Adi said. “There were days when we went without eating, and my family couldn’t bear to see my suffering.”  Adi’s story is a poignant example of the challenges faced by millions in Ethiopia. Many regions across the country are experiencing systemic food insecurity. While the country has seen a substantial decline in pover...

Stories by  By: Daniel Tesfu and Esete Kebede, CARE International in Ethiopia PART ONE “I Now Live in a Kitchen with my Newborn” Genet is a 22-year-old mother from Kercha, in the south of Ethiopia, who fled the conflict with her newborn to the district of Gedeo. “My husband was killed as a result of the conflict. Our house was also burnt down to the ground,” Genet says in a trembling voice. “My husband was killed, and now I am all alone. All this makes me sick.   I was pregnant at the time and they were about to kill me as well. I escaped and managed to get here with the help of others in my community. It has been two months since I’ve fled to this area to save my life. I had my baby 28 days ago. Lucky enough, people helped me to get to this health post for delivery and I had a safe birth. But there are many others who are pregnant and may not get help.’’ Genet is one of more than 800,000 displaced people now sheltered in Gedeo. ‘’Before the confli...

Women leave their homes and heading to IDP Camps in caravans in search of refuge much-needed and sustenance. Saddam Mohamed/CARE International FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 25, 2022 - As donors convene in Geneva, over 50 NGOs and NGO networks call for an urgent and substantial step-up in funding and leadership to respond to the humanitarian catastrophe facing millions in the Horn of Africa due to the severe drought, warning that further delays will cost lives.     This drought is compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, conflict, desert locusts, and now a further surge in food and commodity prices due to the conflict in Ukraine. Over 14 million people across Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya - about half of them children - are already on the verge of starvation. This number will rise to 20 million by the middle of 2022 if the rains continue to fail, prices continue to rise, and significant funds are not surged to meet the needs of those in crisis. In Somalia alone, over half a million people...

  Natural Resource Management (NRM)  clearing weeds on a field enclosed for future grazing. CARE/David Mutua On the border between Kenya and Ethiopia, in Eymolo location, Banisa sub-county of Mandera, Aden Ibrahim and members of the Natural Resource Management (NRM) - group he chairs - go about clearing weeds on one of the group’s two enclosures. As a predominantly pastoralist society, the community in Banisa heavily relies on available pasture for the survival of their livestock. “Management of land and pasture through the establishment of such enclosures is key. We live in a semi-arid region, and we experience frequent droughts and little rainfall, and this causes animals to die due to lack of pasture,” Aden says. Camels searching for food in Eymolo, Banisa sub-county of Mandera County. CARE/David Mutua Rangeland management is critical in ensuring that pasture in the pasture lands are not degraded due to overgrazing. It is the practice of preserving sections of pasture to ...

STORY 1: She didn’t have much but lost it all: the heartbreaking story of a conflict survivor in Ethiopia It is dark in Almaz’s small hut. Her home is sparsely furnished with a few cupboards and one bed on which she is sitting. She looks fragile, with her back bent and her right hand covering her face as she is trying to hide her tears. She has dark circles under her eyes. Her clothes are ripped. Her voice breaks as she is bringing up memories of the day her life changed  dramatically. The roof of her house still has cracks from the attack that forced her and her family to flee a few months ago. Just on the opposite side of her home, hundreds of temporary bamboo houses are lined up as Chirigu, her village, became one of the biggest displacement camps in southern Ethiopia. Almaz’s story in their own words: It was evening when all of the sudden we heard gunshots and people screaming. Me and my family were at home. We didn’t know what was going on in the village. We looked out...

“…now having a latrine is not an option but it is a matter of dignity” How do you cut diarrhea by 40%  and have people use the latrine so the water stays safe? Make it about dignity. That’s not the only change people in Ethiopia are seeing with the RESET II project. They’re also seeing improved agricultural production, better government services, and sustainable practices for the future. RESET II in Ethiopia is running from 2016-2020 with $7 million in funding from the European Union. In partnership with Action Against Hunger, it is reaching more than 378,000 people. What have we accomplished?     People are healthier: there has been a 40% reduction in diarrhea.     Water is safer: people are 83% more likely to be using safe water sources, and 44% more likely to be using a latrine.    Agriculture is more sustainable: people are 83% more likely to be using sustainable land and water management practices. They ha...

If you go to many schools in poor countries or refugee camps, you will see kids washing their hands like they are scrubbing in for surgery. They are much more thorough than most Americans, where apparently  69% of men  don’t wash their hands. What makes kids in crisis so smart about handwashing? Why are they following the  best practice guidelines  for how to wash your hands, even when running water is scarce? They understand that it could save their lives. As we’re all learning, handwashing is one of the best defenses we have against all kinds of diseases (including COVID-19) better than  wearing gloves . It’s the  top tip WHO offers  for slowing the spread of the virus. It saves lives all over the world. But  a lot of people still don’t do it , even with the best access to resources, running water, and information. So how do we make it possible for more people? How do you get people who have little access to running water or soap to priori...