The implications are most acutely felt in the refugee camps, where lives and livelihoods have already been stretched thin. In Gambella, home to over 385,000 refugees, mainly from South Sudan, support has dwindled sharply; reports indicate a 35pc decline from 2023 to 2024, with an even steeper drop anticipated in the following year. In Melkadida, a sprawling camp near the borders of Kenya and Somalia that shelters more than 220,000 refugees, the loss is equally dire. Funding and supplies have fallen dramatically, leaving residents with reduced food rations and critical services, and forcing a retreat from long-term sustainable support initiatives.

For refugees, the funding freeze translates into a daily struggle for survival. After 15 years in the Melkadida camp, their words resonate with despair. “We don’t know where to go” is a widespread sentiment, as the interruption of aid not only diminishes basic sustenance but also undermines the fragile social fabric that holds these communities together.

The shockwaves extend into urban centres as well. Aid recipients with HIV/AIDS now face the grim reality of potentially losing subsidised medication, a lifeline that, if withdrawn, could have dire health consequences. Experts warn that the current ambiguity over humanitarian support demands the urgent need for Ethiopia to shift towards sustainable, domestic funding for essential services, lest future shocks erode the country’s hard-won progress.

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PUBLISHED ON Feb 09,2025 [ VOL 25 , NO 1293]