Ethiopia

Situation Report
Feature
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February 2023, Chefa Robit. Medina at the KG site. Photo: OCHA/ Mengistu Dargie

Expecting mother delivers twins while fleeing attacks; still no assistance at her IDP site (OCHA)

Medina Ahmed, 40, is a mother of twelve. Except for her eldest daughter who was recently wed off, the rest of her family live with her where they took shelter at the IDP site in Chefa Robit Woreda of Oromia Special Zone in the Amhara Region. They had fled their home in Dido kebele, Artuma Fursi Woreda, upon violent attacks that started on 21 January 2023 along the bordering areas of North Shewa and Oromo Special zones.

Recalling her anguish, Medina says, “I was pregnant waiting for a safe delivery when armed groups attacked people indiscriminately in my kebele. I left the area in panic with my children. I went into labour on my way to Chefa Robit town three weeks before my due date and gave birth to twin baby girls in an unsafe environment. We carried the babies and continued running”. Medina joined more than 4,000 displaced persons in Chefa Robit, at a makeshift IDP site that was once a kindergarten.

“We are not receiving any support since we arrived [and] we suffer from lack of food, shelter and medication. My new-borns are growing thin and weak without the proper nutrients. I am unable to breastfeed as my breast are dry due to lack of food. I beg for milk from the community every day, but I don’t get enough to feed my babies. Our situation is worsening.”

Medina does not receive support from her husband either. “He left us to join his other wife in a neighbouring kebele in Ataye Woreda; we need immediate support” she pleads. Acute malnutrition and food insecurity remain threats to IDP children and pregnant and lactating women in the Oromia Special Zone, and without urgent food/nutrition response the lives of Medina’s twins may be at risk. To this date, there has not been any reported humanitarian assistance to those displaced at the kindergarten site.

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