Safe water and nutrition support for IDPs in Ethiopia

This challenge is shared by thousands of IDPs in the Somali region, where over 50% of people lack access to safe and adequate drinking water.

Similarly, Amina Tahir is a mother living in the Qoalaji IDP camp. Her 6-month-old baby Nino Ahmed was recently discharged from the Malnutrition Centre in the camp. Due to lack of adequate food, shelter and health services, she was not able to properly breastfeed her baby leading to undernutrition. It is estimated that 21% of under-five children are severely malnourished in the Somali region where Amina and her baby live.

“Here in IDP camp we face a shortage of food and we may not feed ourselves and our children properly,” Amina says.

Like Halimo and Amina, Aisha Abdulahi - a mother of five also displaced from their home community - has faced challenges in earning money, and growing or buying food for her children to meet their nutritional needs.

Amina remarks, “…covering the living expenses and properly feeding my children was a headache for me…my children often get sick and malnourished.”

The transition

In January 2023, Amref Health Africa in Ethiopia, supported by GSK, launched the Emergency Nutrition and WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) response projects. The initiative aimed to provide nutrition support and improve the supply of safe drinking water for IDPs, with a primary focus on women and children.

WASH interventions are designed to address both the access issues to safe, clean drinking water and the sustainable access to hygiene products and sanitary practices. Trucking potable water into the IDP camps, as well as supplying and installing water storage tanks and water treatment kits provided increased access to safe, clean drinking water. With the distribution of hygiene kits and delivering awareness campaigns around hygienic practices, the project also addressed the wider issues of sustainable WASH access.

Through the water trucking intervention, approximately 2,000 people in the Awbare IDP site, including Halimo and her family, received 500 cubic meters of water. This significantly improved access to safe water and helped combat water-related diseases and associated socioeconomic problems.

Malnutrition support

The project also provided need-based nutrition interventions like malnutrition screening campaigns integrated with health worker training on malnutrition management, medical supplies and awareness campaigns. Amina and her baby were treated through the malnutrition screening, and discharged after a successful course.

Entrepreneurship training

Aisha was among 60 women supported with entrepreneurship training. With those skills, the women are able to set up their own small businesses to generate income to help them with financial security which then allows them better access to nutritional foods and health services. Aisha set up a small business selling vegetables and other consumable goods.

“In a short period, I got nice profits from the business, so, I covered family expenses, and properly fed my children with vegetables…and I managed to buy a goat,” Aisha says.

Initiatives like the life-saving nutrition and WASH response while integrating economic recovery are crucial for rebuilding resilience of IDPs.