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Bi-Weekly Press Briefing: Assistance To Refugees In Northern Ethiopia - UNHCR
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has been able to step up humanitarian assistance to conflict-affected populations in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray, Afar and Amhara regions since the signing of the peace agreement between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) about 6 weeks ago.
Speaking to journalists at a news briefing at the United Nations in Geneva, the UNHCR Representative in Ethiopia, Mamadou Dian Balde, said that “the peace agreement was signed on the 2nd of November. And since then, UNHCR and partners have been able to increase the level of assistance as well as protection and solutions within Tigray, but also in the northern part of Ethiopia, meaning Amhara as well as Afar.”
In the Peace agreement signed by the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) on 2nd November, both parties agreed to a “permanent cessation of hostilities” to end the Tigray war. This agreement was a critical first step towards ending the devastating two-year old conflict in which the lives and livelihoods of so many Ethiopians have been lost.
As of this week, UNHCR has been able to send 61 trucks into Tigray, carrying 2,400 metric tons of much-needed relief including medicine, shelter materials, blankets and household items, and a tanker carrying 20,000 litres of fuel to help us bring aid to those most in need.
“Not only were we able to have 16,000 refugees relocated to Alemwach, but since the signing of the agreement with the Government’s Refugees and Returnees Service (RRS), we've been able to support the relocation of 7,000 of them, so which really help thousands of refugees who have been stranded to really start rebuilding their own lives,” noted the UNHCR representative.
The Refugee Agency has now resumed operations in secondary field locations like in Maichew, Adigrat, and Abi Adi. Throughout the conflict, UNHCR teams were operating in Tigray from Mekelle and Shire to assist the vulnerable populations as conditions for Eritrean refugees in Tigray were dire.
“We were able to provide them with some limited support”, said Mr. Balde. “Whenever we had opportunities for flying in medical supplies, we did it, but there were not enough. They were not commensurate to the needs. And yes, people have suffered, and they have suffered, and they have suffered.”
UNHCR is now also working closely with local authorities in northern Ethiopia to support Ethiopians displaced by the conflict.
“UNHCR in Ethiopia is not only working on refugees, we also work on Ethiopians displaced by the conflict”, noted the UNHCR Representative. “We have been able to support over 2 million internally displaced persons through our protection services, shelter services as well as our housing, land and property and additional services.”
UNHCR has been providing counselling and support to the most vulnerable including separated children and survivors of gender-based violence. Over 50,000 internally displaced have been assisted to return to their homes within Tigray, Afar and Amhara.
-ends-
STORY: Assistance to Refugees in Northern Ethiopia - UNHCR
TRT: 1 min 57s
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 09 December 2022 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
- Medium shot, UN Geneva flag alley.
- Medium shot, conference room, journalists taking notes, screen in background.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH), UNHCR Representative in Ethiopia, Mamadou Dian Balde: “The peace agreement was signed on the 2nd of November. And since then, UNHCR and partners have been able to increase the level of assistance as well as protection and solutions within Tigray, but also in the northern part of Ethiopia, meaning Amhara as well as Afar.”
- Medium shot, journalists taking notes.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH), UNHCR Representative in Ethiopia, Mamadou Dian Balde: “Not only were we able to have 16,000 refugees relocated to Alemwach, but since the signing of the agreement with the Government’s Refugees and Returnees Service (RRS), we've been able to support the relocation of 7,000 of them, so which really help thousands of refugees who have been stranded to really start rebuilding their own lives.”
- Close-up shot, staff monitoring conference.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH), UNHCR Representative in Ethiopia, Mamadou Dian Balde: “So we were able to provide them with some limited support. Whenever we had opportunities for flying in medical supplies, we did it, but there were not enough. They were not commensurate to the needs. And yes, people have suffered, and they have suffered, and they have suffered.”
- Medium shot, journalists taking notes.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH), UNHCR Representative in Ethiopia, Mamadou Dian Balde: “UNHCR in Ethiopia is not only working on refugees, we also work on Ethiopians displaced by the conflict. We have been able to support over 2 million internally displaced persons through our protection services, shelter services as well as our housing, land and property and additional services.”
- Medium shot, journalists taking notes, podium in the background.
- Medium shot, conference room, journalists taking notes.
- Close-up shot, journalists.
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As world’s water reserves change, countries must prepare for a new reality: WMO
New data showing that rivers were at their lowest level for decades last year provides further evidence that the climate crisis is real and countries must act immediately to protect themselves from the increasing threat to communities and livelihoods, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday.
The key findings from WMO’s State of Global Water Resources 2025 report covering the hydrological cycle and extreme events in the five-year period to last year:
- 2025 was one of driest years for river discharge in 35 years
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- Water storage on Earth’s land surface has decreased in past decade
- Widespread glacier loss across all regions for fourth consecutive year
- Asia and Africa are regions most affected by water-related disasters
- Water data availability has improved, but gaps remain in hard-hit areas
Highlighting the long-term decline in the Earth’s freshwater storage and glacier melt, WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo explained that the planet’s water reserves used to act as a planetary “savings account” that absorbed the occasional dry season, avoiding a water crisis. “One of the central stories of the 2025 report is what is happening to that savings account? And the simple answer is that we are depleting it,” she told journalists in Geneva.
Groundwater reserves are equally stretched and have been in decline since 2014, WMO’s report states, with nearly two-thirds of monitored wells worldwide showing levels lower than the historical norm and indicating a shift “further toward deficit…not recovery”.
“At the same time, we are seeing more water-related disasters,” Ms. Saulo said, while also stressing that the currently strengthening El Niño “will increase the risk of drought in some areas, and flooding in others”.
Glaciers disappearing
In 2025, for the fourth consecutive year, every major glaciated region on Earth lost ice mass, leading to short-term hazards including floods and long-term water insecurity, according to WMO.
Responding to a question about whether the changing global water cycle might have contributed to the deadly Nepal-China flooding disaster, Ms. Saulo explained that melting ice and rock was just one factor in the chain of events that ultimately sent a massive and deadly wall of water and debris downstream on 26 August, killing at least 1,367 people.
“You asked if it could happen again? Absolutely; the problem in this region is that there’s 63,700 glaciers at the last count,” she told a Press Conference in Geneva. “Even if you’re looking with remote sensing with satellites at these glaciers, you might see some faults, you might see some slight shifting, that does not mean necessarily catastrophic collapse. So, in order to plan for this, it’s very, very difficult. But the international community is looking very hard at ways in which we can bring people together to solve some of these monitoring issues.”
Data indicates that glaciers shrank between 2023 and 2025 with cumulative losses of 1,400 gigatonnes of water – or about one third of annual fresh water needs.
Every major glacier region on Earth lost ice for the fourth consecutive year.
“All 19 glacier regions around the globe lost ice; in Central Asia, Iceland, the Russian Arctic and western Canada and the United States, it was among the three worst years on record,” said Wayne Jenkinson, WMO’s Director of Hydrology and Cryosphere.
Some regions with smaller glaciers such as Central Europe, the Caucasus, the western Canada and the United States may already have reached “peak water”, Mr. Jenkinson warned.
“After this point, the glacier gives less meltwater each year simply because there is less ice left to melt. That matters for every community downstream that relies on water during hot, dry summers,” he explained.
Narelle van der Wel, WMO’s Head of Cryosphere Monitoring, Predictions and Services, stressed that while some further glacier loss is unavoidable, the eventual scale of the decline is not predetermined.
“Some glacier loss is inevitable, but total loss of glaciers is not yet inevitable,” she said, pointing to emissions reductions as central to limiting future losses.
Preparing for moving baselines
The report does not attribute every observed change to climate change alone. WMO says pressure on water resources and natural variability also contribute.
Mr. Jenkinson said governments need to prepare for “moving baselines” as historical patterns become less reliable.
“The situation 30 years ago is not where we are today,” he said. Countries, he added, need to prepare “for those changes that have really already arrived”.
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