OUR WORK IN ETHIOPIA

Aida*, 20, was forced to marry early at the age of 15 due to economic difficulties and displacement. After a few months in this forced marriage, she fled to the nearby city to escape the marriage and later returned to live with her family in a displacement camp in the Somali region, Ethiopia. In 2018, conflict forced Aida* and her family to leave their home in the Oromo region, they now depend on food aid and the few animals that they have been given by the government. Save the Children has provided emergency non-food supplies to Aida*'s family in the past through its emergency response project in Somali region, Ethiopia. Girls living parts of Ethiopia hit by drought and food shortages are increasingly being forced into child marriage with rates rising 119% in a year. Since 2019, there have been five failed rainy seasons across the Horn of Africa leaving up to 20 million people in Ethiopia experiencing food insecurity. Water sources have dried up, crops and livestock supplies have diminished, food prices have risen and ongoing conflict in parts of the country has left many families struggling to support themselves. Maheder Haileselassie Tadese / Save the Children UK

Zinash*, a 15-year-old girl, is a fifth-grade student at a primary school in Ethiopia's Amhara Region that is supported by Save the Children through the LEGO Foundation's Play Matters project. Zinash*’s family are subsistence farmers who make a living through small-scale farming and livestock raising; however, due to the recent war in the area, the family was unable to farm. Zinash* had to drop out of school and stay at home for nearly a year last year due to war in her hometown. Zinash* and other children in her village are returning to school this academic year thanks to the financial support from Save the Children through LEGO foundation. Seifu Asseged/ Save the Children

The SHIFT Campaign in partnership with a Youth Theatre Club in Waghimra, Ethiopia, employs innovative strategies, including creative arts and community engagement, to combat substance abuse and school dropout rates. Hailu Amere, Education Specialist, talks about the benefits of the programme and the changes he has seen. Save the Children in Ethiopia

Hodan* lives with her husband and four children in the Somali region of Ethiopia. Her husband is currently working as a farmhand back in their village after being edged out of his pastoralist lifestyle by the ongoing severe drought in Ethiopia. Over the past four months, Hodan* lost 3 goats and 3 camels, leaving her family without a source of income and nutrition, as they were previously provided by the goats and camels. As a result, she has been struggling to feed her family, with the only source of income being her husband’s meagre wages. “We get food sometimes… especially breakfast and dinner. Sometimes we get breakfast, other times we [only] get dinner,” she says. When we met Hodan* at Kelafo health facility, she looked worried. Ayaan*, her youngest daughter, was seriously ill. She had a fever, she was coughing and her body was swollen with visible body and mouth ulcers. While examining the baby, the Stabilization Centre Nurse at Kelafo Health Centre took note of Ayaan*’s extensive swelling under the skin, a possible case of oedema which is caused by too much fluid in the body's tissues. This is a major sign of kwashiorkor, a very severe form of malnutrition. The health care workers admitted Ayaan* and her mother at the Stabilization Centre, which is supported by Save the Children and immediately started her on a milk based powdered therapeutic diet commonly known as F-75. The therapeutic diet is used to stabilize and treat children suffering from Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM). Asseged Seifu/ Save the Children

The cash provision from Save the Children though the funding support from ECHO is making a tangible difference in the lives of families like Welelay, enabling them to address their immediate needs, including purchasing essential food items. This support not only ensures access to nutritious meals but also provides a sense of stability and relief during challenging times. By empowering families to make their own choices based on their unique circumstances. Seifu Assegid & Fistum Belehu/Save the Children