Sweden’s unearmarked funding helps UNHCR to quickly respond to urgent shelter needs for refugees, who have been displaced by the continued fighting in Ethiopia.
Refugees in the Benishangul Gumuz region, Ethiopia, are seeking safety after attacks on their camps. © UNHCR/Adelina Gomez Monteagudo
What should have been a safe haven, turned into the exact opposite for 22,000 refugees in the Benishangul Gumuz region in Ethiopia, when the camps they called home were destroyed during recent waves of violence.
The Northern regions of Ethiopia have been impacted by violence and conflict since November 2020, forcing hundreds of thousands of people from their homes. The security situation has also become more tense in the nearby Benishangul Gumuz region, bordering Sudan and South Sudan. The region hosts more than 70,000 Sudanese and South Sudanese refugees and over 500,000 internally displaced Ethiopians.
In December and January, widespread fighting broke out and affected directly the 22,000 refugees in the camps of Tongo and Gure-Shembola. Both camps were looted and burned down during the fighting, forcing the inhabitants to flee the destroyed camps and once again losing their homes and the lives they had rebuilt.
UNHCR and partners are moving refugees to safety in a temporary site after attacks on refugee camps in Ethiopia. © UNHCR/Adelina Gomez Monteagudo
The majority of refugees from Tongo and Gure-Shambole have sought temporary refuge in sites close to the regional capital Assosa, where they arrived exhausted and in dire need of acute aid. Besides shelter, they need food, clean water, and medical care.
UNHCR has stepped up the response and is providing emergency aid. The regional authorities in Benishangul Gumuz have identified a new temporary site with capacity to host 20,000 people – and here, UNHCR is working to establish a new site, installing shelter, water points, and latrines. The refugees will be relocated to the site as soon as possible.
This is possible with the flexible support from Sweden, who is the biggest multi-year donor of unearmarked funding to UNHCR. As of February 2022, Sweden had already contributed with USD 77.6 million of unearmarked funding, allowing UNHCR to react promptly in immediate and unforeseen emergency situations.
“It is tragic when people, who have already been forced to flee from their homes once, suddenly find themselves engulfed by violence and again have to flee for their lives. Early unearmarked funding from Sweden enabled us to react immediately to the emergency needs in Ethiopia and provide urgent assistance and shelter,” says UNHCR’s Representative in the Nordic and Baltic Countries, Henrik M. Nordentoft.
In the Benishangul Gumuz region, UNHCR also assists internally displaced Ethiopians, reaching over 100,000 people in 2021 – particularly women and children – with clothing, shelter, psychosocial support, and awareness-raising on issues like gender-based violence and sexual abuse.
Flexible donor support also helped UNHCR raise awareness of sexual and gender-based violence, especially among displaced women and children. © UNHCR/Adelina Gomez Monteagudo
Sweden is one of UNHCR’s top donors, and the biggest multi-year donor of unearmarked funding. In 2021, Sweden provided UNHCR with USD 122.9 million, of which 61% was unearmarked. For 2022, Sweden has already contributed USD 77.6 million of unearmarked funding.
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