The Ethiopian humanitarian relief sector has been awash with a mix of troubling realities and questionable narratives over the past three weeks, ranging from deeply concerning reports to seemingly unrealistic pronouncements and confusing official statements.
The announcement of an ‘Ethio-Aid’ initiative in response to a huge funding cut from partners struck many as overly optimistic. More confusing was the Disaster Risk Management Commissioner’s assertion to MPs of “tremendous success” in addressing humanitarian needs and risks over the last five years, claiming an 86 percent reduction in caseload (the number of people requiring assistance)—a figure whose basis remains unclear.
Meanwhile, deeply worrying reports warn of the prospect of further hunger and malnutrition, with many victims likely to receive no assistance.
Under the bright morning sun of April 22nd, the main avenue in the center of Debre Birhan presented a poignant scene. Steps away from a monument dedicated to Emperor Zera Yacob could be found a large group of people, predominantly women, sat in a neat row, each accompanied by an average of three unkempt children, many of whom were under the age of five.
Their lined faces, etched with worry, and tattered clothing spoke of hardship as they silently sought food and aid from the town’s passersby. These women were not strangers to one another, having journeyed together from conflict and drought in Seqota, in the besieged Wag Hemra Zone of the Amhara Regional State.
“Everything has dried up, and we’ve lost all hope. Our livestock died, and we were forced to sell those that remained to survive,” said Genet Azmeraw, one of the women who fled to Debre Birhan.
Her hopeful gaze fixed on a stranger, she said, “People are generous. But the recurring need for help from so many of us has been a burden.”
Less than two kilometers from where the impoverished mothers and children from drought-stricken Seqota sought help from others more fortunate, thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) were starting another day in the dilapidated tents and suffocated warehouses of one of Debre Birhan’s IDP camps.
Over the last four years, the town has become a temporary home for tens of thousands displaced by ethnic and religious violence, primarily from Wollega, OromiaRegional State. Even with its developing industrial scene, Debre Birhan portrays a clear picture of citizens in desperate need of humanitarian aid.
Getachew (name changed for this article)—a resident of ‘China Camp’ and father to three children between the ages of four and eleven—struggles to comprehend his upended life, reminiscing about his days as a productive entrepreneur and cursing his current reality as an aid recipient.
“I once oversaw businesses worth more than 15 million birr, including a coffee farm, an electric mill, and a vegetable business,” he shared with The Reporter Magazine. “Now, for the last four years, my existence has been reduced to waiting for a monthly allocation of 15 kilos of flour.”
He had spent nearly his entire life in Wollega. He is married to a woman of Oromo descent, the love of his life, and they have three children. Four years ago, militants and their supporters in his kebele delivered a brutal ultimatum: people like Getachew did not belong and had to leave. This exclusionary narrative extended even to Getachew’s children, deemed unwelcome because they were not considered “pure Oromos” by the militants. Tragically, his wife was forced to remain behind. He fled with their three young children, leaving his pregnant wife.
Getachew and many others like him were forced to abandon their homes and property.
“They made sure we didn’t take a dime. We rushed to save our lives,” he recounted.
This man’s account is not an isolated incident; it reflects the reality for tens of thousands of IDPs in Debre Birhan’s three camps. Others shared similar stories of loss.
“These hardworking individuals once owned property,” Getachew said.
Now, they live their lives under the worn canvas of old tents and within the confines of crowded warehouses.
On the city’s outskirts, over 22,000 IDPs are sheltered in China Camp, Woinshet Camp, and Baqelo Camps. The federal government’s data indicates a nationwide IDP population of one million,a figure that stands in contradiction to UN agency reports revealing a total of 4.5 million.
The heartbreaking stories that fill these camps are completely at odds with the narrative woven by Shiferaw Teklemariam (PhD), head of the Ethiopian Disaster Risk Management Commission, when he presented a report to Parliament recently.
The Commissioner touted an 86 percent reduction in the number of people requiring humanitarian aid over the last five years. It is difficult to see what could have prompted such a staggering drop.
During an exclusive interview with The Reporter Magazine, the commissioner cited nine regional states that have ‘graduated’ from the commission’s aid assistance. “They are managing on their own. They are building their own reserves,” he stated. According to him, these regional states collectively stored one million quintals of grain during last winter.
Conversely, humanitarian agencies and international organizations are appealing for increased funding and issuing alarming reports about a growing hunger crisis, further undermining the assertion.
Neither has there been much to suggest that government efforts to relocate IDPs or pacify ethnic violence have met success.
In fact, IDPs like Getachew faced further hardship when the government attempted to facilitate their return to places like Wollega and West Shewa a year ago.
“While some held onto hope, others remained skeptical, knowing the situation on the ground hadn’t improved,” Getachew said.
Tragically, some of the 4,000 who returned were killed, leading the majority to flee back to Debre Birhan.
“That is the reality,” he concluded.
Aggression Fuels New Wave of Displacement
Desperate for a solution, the IDPs who spoke with The Reporter Magazine offered two primary paths to concerned organizations: enabling their return home or offering permanent settlement elsewhere. Yet, in today’s Ethiopia, neither has materialized, trapping them in the unfamiliar and uncertain existence of camp life.
The underlying causes that led to the displacement of people like Getachew, numbering in the tens of thousands, continue to be ignored. Political will to address these root causes has yet to materialize. The Reporter Magazine’s recent visit to Debre Birhan coincided with a fresh wave of displacement from a long-contested area between the Oromia and Amhara regions. Awra Godana (Korke) town, despite being under the administration of the Amhara region’s Minjar Shenkora Woreda, is claimed by the East Shewa Zone of Oromia as well.
A prior incident involving the removal of an Amhara region signpost by Oromia forces triggered clashes and the displacement of at least 2,000 civilians.
Confirming the severity of the situation and its impact on their work, Abebaw Mesele, who leads the North Shewa Disaster Risk Management and Food Security Office, informed The Reporter Magazine of their ongoing efforts to manage the crisis.
He noted the long-standing absence of political will concerning the return of IDPs.
“Despite this lack of interest, we remain committed to dialogue to achieve the people’s return,” he said.
Assessments Beyond IDPs
The humanitarian needs extend beyond these IDPs, with nearly 100,000 people requiring assistance in the North Shewa Zone alone.
A risk analysis also points to drought vulnerability in 24 zones (spread across Oromia, Somali, and Southern Ethiopia) following below-average rainfall. Furthermore, regions like Afar face ongoing earthquake risks, and southern Ethiopia is vulnerable to landslides, adding to the natural disaster concerns.
It is against this backdrop of a worsening national humanitarian crisis that the Disaster Risk Management Commissioner reported a seemingly improbable “astronomical” 86 percent decrease in humanitarian needs to lawmakers. The evidence supporting this claim remains elusive, and the actual conditions witnessed by aid organizations on the ground stand in stark contrast to the Commissioner’s statements.
According to the commission’s data, the current caseload stands at 3.6 million, whereas the number of IDPs is just one million. However, data from elsewhere paints a very different picture. The figure offered by the commission remains much lower, approximately one-sixth of the numbers cited by other agencies.
According to the latest report by the World Food Program (WFP), approximately 10.2 million people in Ethiopia face acute food insecurity, including three million internally displaced by conflict and extreme weather. The WFP Country Director further noted a rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation nationwide, with hunger and malnutrition escalating due to the devastating convergence of conflict, climate shocks, economic instability, and displacement. He also highlighted alarmingly high malnutrition rates, with 4.4 million pregnant women and young children in urgent need of treatment.
Consistent with the WFP report, other surveys by UN agencies like UNICEF also show no such reduction in the number of people requiring humanitarian assistance. In fact, a report published by UNICEF just four months prior indicated over 20 million people in urgent need, including nearly 4.5 million internally displaced persons.
CommissionerShiferaw (PhD), who argues that the commission and these agencies use the same government-sourced data, dismisses all these reports. He stated, “Maybe they (those agencies) have this ambition of resource mobilization.” The commissioner accused those agencies of inflating numbers to ‘address their own resource demand.’ “So, I strongly object,” he asserted, warning that doing so ‘will be an issue of accountability.’
The Politicization of Aid
Transparency regarding humanitarian assistance and the conditions surrounding IDPs is increasingly restricted by the government. Information flow within the sector is now heavily censored, with strict measures preventing the sharing of data and other details. The Reporter Magazine witnessed this firsthand, even observing restrictions on communication officers. It is apparent that IDPs who engage with the media, especially on topics related to the difficulty of return, face the threat of arrest.
Humanitarian aid has indeed been politicized. The debate among stakeholders centers on who is engaging in it and who is not. Commissioner Shiferaw accuses the agencies, stating, “Some of them are mentioning numbers they were instructed to mention.” Conversely, others level the exact same accusation against his office.
Experts in the humanitarian sphere suggested to The Reporter Magazine that the Commissioner’s claim of an 86 percent decline in caseload, for instance, was more of a political statement than a reflection of a professional survey.
“The aid sector here seems to be guided more by political motivations than by sound professional practices. I’m at a loss to explain the commissioner’s statement,” a senior expert stated, speaking anonymously. “Based on what I’ve observed in the Amhara region, there’s no indication of an 86 percent decrease in need—in fact, I haven’t even seen a ten percent reduction. In some areas, the need has grown, while in others, it remains unchanged. Our own situation analysis simply doesn’t support the Commissioner’s claim. That’s the reality I see.”
The elephant in the room is the undeniable and drastic reduction in international funding for Ethiopia’s humanitarian sector, a crisis demanding a response. With significant cuts from major donors like USAID creating a visible gap, and the EU reducing its humanitarian funding by half to 40 million euros in 2025, the pressure is mounting.
The WFP’s warning of a USD 222 million funding shortfall for its Ethiopia operations between April and September 2025 further illustrates the urgency. According to the report, food aid for Ethiopia is set to be cut in half in 2025 compared to just last year.In response to these growing pressures, the Commission has proposed a mandatory contribution from citizens for disaster and risk management costs in a bill tabled to Parliament.
Dreaming in the Shadows: ‘Overly Bright’ Vision Amidst Dark Practices
Amidst concerning reports and confusing official claims, the Commission has touted its so-called ‘Ethio-Aid initiative,’ which appears to have no tangible execution plan beyond rhetoric.
While stressing self-sufficiency, Ambassador Shiferaw maintains its feasibility“Ethiopia aiming for Ethio-Aid is not a new phenomenon. I don’t want to mention specific details, but we provide different forms of support to neighbors and others on a daily basis,” he told The Reporter Magazine.
Nevertheless, no concrete or serious plan is evident at present.
When The Reporter Magazine inquired about execution details, an expert at the Commission simply smiled and dismissed it by stating that “people often say such things as motivation.”
Under its direct reporting line to the Prime Minister, the Disaster Risk Management Commission is now attempting to organize itself in response to the imposed “self-sufficiency” agenda. The success of this endeavor, however, is yet to be seen.
With roots stretching back to the 1970s and the response to a major famine, the Commission has a long history in Ethiopian humanitarian aid, operating under different titles. The respected diplomat and social worker Shimelis Adugna is a prominent figure from its early years. Sadly, the institution eventually became another example of government entities plagued by corruption. Shiferaw’s predecessor is currently incarcerated for corrupt practices.
A year and a half ago, the Auditor General subjected the Commission, under its current chief, to scrutiny and raised critical questions. Mirroring the actions of some other government officials, the new Commissioner failed to appear before Parliament to address serious audit irregularities.
However, the current commissioner, Ambassador Shiferaw (PhD), offers a strong internal critique, accusing the commission he leads of ‘structurally promoting aid dependency’ within the nation.The commissioner argues that the commission has not yet performed optimally. He expresses belief in the attainability of self-sufficiency, asserting that it ‘has already started happening.’
Speaking to The Reporter Magazine, he stated with confidence, “Trust me, once this law is ratified by the parliament, it will become evident that we will not consume all the reserves we accumulate.” He further indicated that upon ratification of the draft ‘Ethiopian Disaster Risk Management Commission Proclamation,’ the commission would expand its operations into investment activities, moving beyond solely providing humanitarian assistance.
Nevertheless, the question lingers: will downplaying the difficulties and denying the problems truly facilitate the ambitious vision of self-sufficiency?
The politicization of humanitarian aid and its statistics has continued unabated. Yet, obscured by this manipulation of figures are human lives. Householders like Genet and Getachew depend on local generosity and, critically, the responsible intervention of stakeholders, including the government and partners.
