Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has launched a four-year programme to be jointly implemented with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and UN Habitat - The United Nations Human Settlements Programme as part of efforts to strengthen the resilience of disaster-affected communities through durable solutions in Oromia and Somali Regions of Ethiopia.

The USD 19 million project aims to benefit 54,400 disaster affected people in different districts of Oromia and Somali Regions. The targeted districts include Chinaksam, Babile and Meisso from Oromia and, Qoloji, Awbara, Gode and Adadle. 

“These districts were selected through our Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM), returning caseloads, Government priorities, and the profile of the beneficiaries,” said David Coomber, IOM Ethiopia’s Durable Solutions Expert. 

The project will improve community-based planning and multi-sectoral recovery interventions. 

Still, it will result in diversification of livelihoods, to sustainably reintegrate affected households, and to reinforce the capacity of the Government to support the communities. 

“Thus far, we have reintegrated 594 individuals (105 households) over the past four months with the necessary support for sustainability. This time, we are aiming to build on that achievement and reach out to even larger community,” said IOM’s Coomber. 

The newly launched project will be implemented over a period of 48 months until October 2026. It is expected to sustainably reintegrate displacement-affected communities and provide long-lasting solutions to displacement. 

Conflict, instability, environmental shocks and stressors globally are driving record numbers of families to leave their homes, within and across international borders, to escape immediate threats to their safety and security or to improve lives and livelihoods. 

The project launch is happening against a backdrop of ethnic-based tensions and communal violence in some regions of Ethiopia which have forced millions of people to flee their homes over, leading to a complex crisis of population displacement in the country. This has driven the government, in collaboration with humanitarian and development partners, to increase the focus on approaches that cultivate long-lasting solutions to the situation of IDPs. 

IOM continues to ensure that the humanitarian needs of those impacted by crises are met. The organization identifies and addresses the drivers of displacement and large-scale migration flows, which overwhelm local capacities. This aids member states in achieving stability and long-lasting solutions.  

The project is funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).  

For more information contact Alemayehu Seifeselassie, IOM Ethiopia, aseifeselassie@iom.int.