Ethiopia is facing a deepening humanitarian crisis. Years of instability have left millions of people without reliable access to food, health care and clean water—while rising tensions threaten to push even more families into emergency conditions.

As a result of these compounding crises, Ethiopia features on the International Rescue Committee’s (IRC) Emergency Watchlist as one of the countries most likely to experience a worsening humanitarian crisis in 2026.

Learn more about the crisis in Ethiopia and what you can do to help.

What is driving the crisis in Ethiopia?

Multiple, overlapping crises are converging across Ethiopia. Armed conflict in several regions continues to uproot families and disrupt daily life, while years of strain have weakened health services, food systems and other essential infrastructure.

At the same time, new outbreaks of violence are pushing families from their homes, increasing hunger and disease risk—especially for children. These pressures are now being compounded by steep reductions in humanitarian funding, creating a widening gap between growing needs and shrinking assistance.

Tensions rise again in Ethiopia’s Tigray region

Northern Ethiopia’s Tigray region is at risk of renewed violence, after a brutal civil war devastated communities. Fighting between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), backed by forces from neighboring Eritrea and Ethiopia’s Oromia region, killed and displaced hundreds of thousands of people between 2020 and 2022. Hospitals, schools, homes and businesses were destroyed, leaving communities struggling to recover.

Although a peace agreement formally ended the fighting in late 2022, it remains fragile. Split within the TPLF and rising tensions between the Ethiopian government and Eritrea regarding disputed border territory have brought the peace deal to the verge of collapse. Meanwhile, Tigray has experienced little reconstruction during this period and nearly 800,000 displaced people still reside in the region, living in dire conditions with limited access to basic services.

Any outburst of violence would have devastating consequences for civilians, who have yet to see meaningful reconstruction or recovery.

A mother walks through a barren Ethiopian landscape, carrying her young son on her back.
Birhe gave birth to her son Selam while displaced after fleeing violence in Tigray. Selam received a full course of routine vaccinations from the IRC.
Photo: Martha Tadesse for the IRC

Violence in Ethiopia’s largest region triggers displacement

Ethiopia’s Oromia region—the country’s largest and most populous—has seen a sharp rise in violence in recent years. Clashes between the Oromia Liberation Army (OLA) and Ethiopian government have displaced more than 280,000 people from their homes in 2025.

Emergency levels of child malnutrition rates have been recorded as families flee violence with little more than they can carry. Because Oromia sits at the center of Ethiopia’s transport and food supply networks, insecurity in the region is also disrupting markets, livelihoods and the delivery of humanitarian aid nationwide.

Two displaced children stand together and pose for a photo in their new home in northern Ethiopia.
Siblings Hiyab and Tsinat were displaced from their homes due to conflict and now attend a school supported by the IRC.
Photo: Derrick Taremwa for the IRC

Shortfalls in U.S. aid budgets cuts support for millions

Shortly after taking office in 2025, the Trump Administration slashed the U.S. humanitarian aid budget. Ethiopia lost $387 million in USAID funding—the largest funding cut affecting any country in Africa. The impact was immediate, straining public services and leading to the layoff of more than 5,000 health workers.

More than 2 million people missed out on food distributions in 2025, and an estimated 3.6 million could lose access to aid without an immediate increase in funding. An estimated 650,000 women and children are also at risk of losing access to malnutrition treatment, including in regions where child malnutrition has reached emergency levels.

A child holds his mother's arm and looks toward the camera.
Emergency levels of child malnutrition rates were recorded across several Ethiopian regions in 2025.
Photo: Fahmo Mohammed for the IRC

Climate shocks compound risk

Ethiopia is still reeling from a multi-year drought that affected 30 million people between 2020-2023, undermining food security and devastating pastoral livelihoods as livestock deaths surged. While improved rainfall has reduced the immediate threat of drought, many communities lack the support needed to recover.

This already dire situation could be further compounded by new waves of flooding linked to the global La Niña weather pattern, which threatens food stocks and risks worsening a cholera outbreak that has already affected more than 6,800 people.

A young baby lays in a bed while their mother smiles, leaning above the child.
Tekley’s son, Kibrom, just received life-saving vaccines from the IRC in Tigray, Ethiopia.
Photo: Martha Tadesse for the IRC

How the IRC is responding in Ethiopia

The IRC began its operations in Ethiopia in 2000, providing support to refugees from neighboring countries as well as Ethiopians living in crisis-affected and underserved communities. The country continues to face recurring challenges, including conflict, natural hazards and climatic shocks, all of which disproportionately affect vulnerable populations. We respond through multi-sectoral programming in health and nutrition, child protection, education, women’s protection and empowerment, economic recovery and development, and environmental health.

How to help people affected by the crisis in Ethiopia?

You can help families in Ethiopia survive, recover and rebuild. The IRC relies on generous donors to deliver lifesaving food, health care, education, and protection services in some of the country’s most vulnerable communities.

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The International Rescue Committee has over 90 years of experience helping people affected by crisis in more than 40 countries to survive, recover and rebuild their lives. We also help refugees and displaced people resettle and integrate into new communities in the U.S. and across Europe.

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