Malnutrition levels in Ethiopia have reached a critical point, with the UN World Food Program (WFP) warning that 4.4 million pregnant women and young children urgently need treatment. The agency has been forced to suspend nutrition support for 650,000 individuals due to severe funding shortages.
Speaking during a press briefing in Geneva on Tuesday, WFP’s Ethiopia country director Zlatan Milisic described the situation as dire, particularly in the Somali, Oromia, Afar, and Tigray regions, where rates of child wasting have exceeded the 15 percent emergency threshold.
“Ethiopia is facing one crisis after another,” Milisic said. “The combination of drought, ongoing conflict, and an influx of refugees threatens to push already vulnerable communities into deeper distress.”
The country is currently home to more than 10 million people suffering from acute food insecurity, including three million who have been displaced by conflict and climate-related disasters.
Despite providing food and nutrition assistance to over three million people earlier this year—albeit with reduced rations—WFP now faces the grim prospect of cutting back even further. Aid to 800,000 refugees, including 100,000 Sudanese, is also at risk, with food and cash assistance projected to run out by June.
Without immediate financial support, up to 3.6 million people could lose access to WFP aid in the coming months.
The agency is urgently appealing for $222 million in funding through September to sustain operations and reach its goal of assisting 7.2 million people in 2025.
“We have the infrastructure, teams, and logistical capacity ready,” Milisic stated. “But without the necessary resources, we cannot respond to the scale of the crisis.”