Falls Church, Virginia — OLLAA expresses its grave concerns regarding the worsening humanitarian situation throughout Oromia, particularly within the Arsi, Bale, East Hararghe, and Borana zones, and calls on international humanitarian organizations to ensure that humanitarian aid is provided to civilians in these areas, as well as to all Ethiopians who are currently facing hunger and famine conditions.
In early 2021, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that there were 23.5 million people in need of humanitarian assistance throughout Ethiopia. The report found that the region with the greatest needs was Oromia, with 6.7 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, and that 40% of all severe acute malnutrition cases in the country were located in Oromia.
This situation has only worsened in recent months, beginning with reports of extreme food shortages and famine conditions in the Borana and Arsi zones, in part due to the forced conscription of youth to military service and Ethiopian security forces looting cattle and funds from residents by Ethiopian security forces.
OLLAA has recently received reports from credible sources on the ground that Ethiopian security forces have continued looting supplies from civilians in the Bale zone, including in Rayitu, Saweenaa, Dawweesar, Beeltukukurru, and Lagahidha districts. Similarly, in the East Hararghe zone, Ethiopian security forces have reportedly forcibly collected money from civilians in order to fund the Ethiopian National Defence Forces, amounting to a total of 300,000ksh within Gara Mulata, Fadis, Dadr, Gooroo Gutu, Gooroo Muxii, Qarsa, Haramaya, and Kombolcha districts. Conflicts, which have received little international attention, have reportedly also led to increased displacement in the Wollo and East Wollega zones. Such practices only serve to further exacerbate the needs of the civilian populations in these zones, who are already facing severe food shortages due to environmental factors such as the drought, which has also affected citizens in East Guji and West Guji zones.
In order for the humanitarian crisis throughout Ethiopia to be adequately addressed, the international community must respond to the worsening humanitarian situation in Oromia, which produces 57% of the country’s wheat supply. Hunger in Oromia only serves to exacerbate the humanitarian situation throughout the entirety of the country. OLLAA has called on leading humanitarian groups, including USAID, to ensure that assistance is provided to all those in need in these zones, as well as across Ethiopia. We call on all other relevant humanitarian organizations to do the same.
OLLAA is an umbrella organization that represents dozens of Oromo communities around the world.