Afar

Afar is located in the eastern part of Ethiopia. The State of Afar has an estimated area of 270,000 square kilometers. The region has common boundaries with the State of Eritrea in the northeast, with Tigray in the north-west, with Amhara in the south-west, with Oromia in the south, with the State of Somalia in the southwest and with the Republic of Djibouti in the east. The region has 5 zones which comprises 32 Woredas. Population size: 1.9 million (45%female and 39.5 % under 18 years). It is characterized by an arid and semi-arid climate with low and erratic rainfall. Afar is increasingly drought prone. The livelihood is of pastoralism (90%) from which agro-pastoralism (10%) from small-scale irrigation. Recent drought episodes and unseasoned flood, windstorms, and disease outbreaks in the pastoral stark reminders of more power floods, food security, and pastoral livelihood strategies are still largely dependent on the climate system and vulnerable to its seasonal variability and long-term changes.

IHS has been operating in Afar refugee camps since February 2022 in Aysaita and Serdo refugee camps by providing child protection and Early child hood care and development (ECCD) programs and advocates for partnerships with individuals, organizations, and government agencies. In its intervention, IHS made its contribution to the protection and wellbeing of Eritrean refugees particularly the most vulnerable children and women.

Aysaita woreda

Aysaita district is found in zone 1. It is located at a distance of 680 km from Addis Ababa to the northeast. It has 2 urban and 11 rural Kebele administrations of which 4 are paspastoralist the rest 7 are agro-pastoralist. The area is arid and semi-arid climates with low and erratic rainfall characterize the district. There are two rainy seasons in the area (Karma: July to September; Sugum: short-season- April/May) and the mean annual rainfall is 200 mm. There is a high rate of evapotranspiration due to high temperature that sometimes exceeds 45 degrees Celsius. According to the projection of CSA 2015, the district has a total population of 66,780 (31,208 male and 35,772 female).

Dufti woredas (Serdo Kebele)

Dufti district found in zone 1. It is located at a distance of 615 km from Addis Ababa to the northeast. It has 7 urban and 11 rural Kebele administrations of which 12 are pastoralist and the rest 7 are agro-pastoralist.

The area is arid and semi-arid climates with low and erratic rainfall characteristics. There are two rainy seasons in the area (Karma: July to September; Sugum: short season- April/May) and the mean annual rainfall is 250 mm. There is high rate of evapotranspiration due to high temperature that sometimes exceeds 42 degree Celsius. According to the projection of CSA 2021, the district has a total population of 51432 ( F 22607 and M 28825) HH 10287

In both refugee camps IHS Afar regional office implemented the below listed activities ,

1. Integrated Child Protection: IHS through UNHCR, UNICEF grant has been implementing an integrated child protection project in the Afar refugee sites I.e Aysaita , Serdo and Berhale refugee camps . IHS through this project has been providing CP Case Management service; Monthly cash support Family Tracing and Reunification (FTR), CFS services, PSS, need-based NFI support and awareness raising activities.

2. ECCD program: IHS through UNHCR fund has been implementing education project that focused on construction and rehabilitation of classrooms and latrines, provision of scholastic materials to students, capacity building trainings and provision of stationery materials to schools education bureau printing of student text books and teachers guide for the programs.