Lean Data Assessment of Targeted Populations on Drought & Anticipatory Action

Between October 2020 and December 2022, eastern and southern Ethiopia faced five consecutive below-average rainy seasons. This led to exceptionally persistent multi-year drought conditions, with the March–April–May season in 2022 being the driest in 70 years. In December 2020, due to the high probability of drought and elevated levels of projected food insecurity, 20 million US dollars from the Central Emergency Relief Fund were allocated to five UN agencies: the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the UN Population Fund, the UN Refugee Agency, the UN Children’s Fund and the World Health Organization. The World Food Programme activated its own funding for anticipatory action in alignment, using the same triggers.

Between May and October 2021, these agencies and their implementing partners used this funding to provide anticipatory assistance to populations in Ethiopia, to help them cope with the predicted impacts of the ongoing drought. This was coordinated by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, which facilitates collective anticipatory action for predictable humanitarian crises.

This report summarizes the findings from an assessment of these anticipatory actions by 60 Decibels.