Ecological and political factors are stacking the deck against the population in Ethiopia amidst severe drought

On 19 April, the World Food Program announced that the number of people pushed to hunger by the severe drought in the Horn of Africa could rise from the current 14 million to 20 million by the end of the year. This is the latest in a long list of warnings from various international organisations that have been drawing attention to the agropastoral and food crises caused by this drought  since 2020. But contrary to the 2016-2017 drought in the Horn, sufficient measures have not been put in place upstream, organisations warn. Although the whole region faces alarming consequences, with for example half a million already starving people in Kenya, Ethiopia is currently the most affected country with more than 7 million people already affected by famine. This is due to various climatic, but also political circumstances.

Horn/News Highlights: Rain remains absent in the Horn, UK plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda criticised, Human trafficking in Cyprus on the rise

This week, the Horn and News highlights are sent out in a combined format on Wednesday. In this week’s Horn and News Highlights: Conflict renewed in Oromia special zone of the Amhara region; Horn of Africa faces fourth consecutive crop failure;$300 million grant approved by the WB to finance reconstruction in Ethiopia; MSF staff member killed in South Sudan; Boat sinking leaves 6 dead and 29 missing off Libyan coasts; Migrants and refugees in Tunisia ask for evacuation through sit-in outside UN Office; Cigarette plant using refugee forced labourers dismantled in Italy; New UK plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda for processing widely criticised; Migrant and refugee collective takes control of office building in Paris; Large building of migrants and refugees evacuated in Brussels; Human trafficking on the rise in Cyprus; Number of entries in Europe highest since 2016, says Frontex; Seventy-third session of the Committee against Torture of the OHCHR.

Horn Highlights: No signs yet of aid in Tigray, Food stocks in Tigray at all time low, Amnesty calls on Egypt to stop deporting Eritreans

In this week’s Horn Highlights: UNOCHA says food stocks in Tigray at all time low; Reports that no aid trucks have entered Tigray despite humanitarian ceasefire; BBC interview with women who report being raped in Amhara; National Dialogue dead on arrival, states Wight; Amhara regional president asks for Russian support to rebuild; UAE continues to send aid to Tigray; calls to protect Ethiopian patriarch; Eritrean troops remain in Tigray despite year-old announcement of withdrawal; Amnesty International calls on Egypt to stop deportations of Eritreans; and Egypt and Sudan deepen military Cooperation.