A drought alert was issued by global bodies for the Horn of Africa, including southern and eastern lowlands of Ethiopia during the October–December Deyr/Hageya rainy season. The Government and humanitarian partners are making headway on anticipatory action to mitigate the worst of the drought impacts. This is the start of an exceptional crisis. An estimated 7.8 million people (akin to the entire population of Hong Kong) across 123 woredas are projected to be at risk of ‘severe’ drought conditions during the season. Many of them are still reeling from the 2020-2023 drought. 

A national Common Framework on Drought Anticipatory Action has been developed. The Ethiopia Humanitarian Fund (EHF) is looking into contributing to the anticipatory action before the full effects of the drought are felt, mitigating the anticipated impact on people’s health, nutritional status and protection. Evidence, especially from Somali Region, underscores the importance of acting early, as past deteriorations of the nutrition situation of affected people, have stemmed from late or insufficient responses.