Ethiopia

Thousands of vulnerable civilians who left their homes in north-eastern Ethiopia in June because of drought are living in poor conditions in an urban area in Afar region, residents and local officials said. “Some 519 families moved to Erebti town from the two most affected kebeles [wards] of Haitan and Aleyta when they started losing their livestock to the drought,” according to a field staff member of an international NGO. The official said most of the 68,400 residents of 13 kebeles in Erebti woreda (district) had been affected by drought although those in Haitan and Aleyta were the worst affected. (IRIN)