Ethiopia — National Displacement Report 11 (December 2021 — February 2022)

In order to capture the displacement and return dynamics in Ethiopia, DTM Ethiopia's National Displacement Report combines findings from its Site Assessment (SA) in Section 1 and findings from the Village Assessment Survey (VAS) in Section 2. The Site Assessment tracks the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs), while the Village Assessment Survey tracks the number of IDPs who are returning or have returned to their communities. 

As of February 2022, a total of 4.51 million IDPs have been identified thus far across the country. Of the total displaced population, the main causes of displacement were conflict which displaced 3.63 million IDPs (81%), drought which displaced 420,887 IDPs (9%), social tension which displaced 171,727 IDPs (4%), seasonal floods which displaced 122,901 IDPs (3%) and flash floods which displaced 119,807 IDPs (3%).

Through Site Assessment round 28 (Dec 2021-Jan 2022), 2.06 million IDPs were identified in 1,440 IDP sites across 9 regions in Ethiopia. Notably, there was a +37% increase in the number of drought IDPs this round due to the intensifying drought, especially in Afder, Dawa, Dollo and Liban zones in Somali region and West Guji zone in Oromia region. Through Emergency Site Assessment round 9 (Jan-Feb 2022), 175,264 IDPs were identified across 83 IDP sites in Afar region and 462,529 IDPs were identified across 560 IDP sites in Amhara region respectively. However, Zone 2 in Afar region was largely inaccessible due to active conflict and insecurity, and thus affected the total number of IDPs that could be identified. The IDP figures in both regions have decreased significantly following the withdrawal of armed conflict in eastern Amhara (mainly North Wello, South Wello and North Shewa zones) and parts of western Afar (Zone 4 and Zone 1). Through Emergency Site Assessment round 8 (Aug 2021), 1.8 million IDPs were identified in 581 IDP sites in Tigray region. However, please note that this information requires updating as a new round could not be conducted for the past 6 months due to a lack of fuel and cash. It is anticipated that the number of IDPs in Tigray should have dropped very significantly due to returns since August 2021.

Through Village Assessment Survey round 11 (Dec 2021-Feb 2022), a total of 2.85 million returning IDPs were identified in 2,378 villages across 11 regions (except Tigray region due to a lack of fuel and cash). 2.7 million returning IDPs (94%) were initially displaced due to conflict, 54,129 returning IDPs (2%) were initially displaced due to seasonal floods and 51,540 returning IDPs due to drought (2%). Significantly, this round’s returning IDP number has increased substantially due to the mass return of 1.5 million returning IDPs, mainly concentrated in the east of Amhara region (North Shewa, North Wello and South Wello zones), following the withdrawal of armed conflict.