Ethiopia's Humanitarian Crisis
In Ethiopia, many individuals are faced with forced internal displacement, primarily due to ongoing conflicts and natural disasters, such as earthquakes, drought, or floods. As of mid-2025, the UN estimated that more than 3.3 million people in Ethiopia were internally displaced (IDPs).
Fleeing home is never an easy decision; it is often guided by individuals’ need to keep their family and themselves safe.
When gunfire erupted close to her home, Yubo Mulu, a mother of five, could only think of taking her children to safety. “There was no time to take anything,” she says, “we just ran with the clothes we were wearing”.
With five children, the journey was difficult and exhausting. They walked eight kilometres under the sun until they reached the Melka Adi IDP site, tired, frightened, and unsure of what awaited them. “I was praying the whole way that we would reach a place where the shooting couldn’t follow us.”
Yubo Mulu at the Melka Adi IDP site, where she is now living in displacement with her five children.
Photo: Mahetem Seleshi for the IRC
Navigating the uncertainties of displacement, one day at a time
At the Melka Adi IDP site, the mobile health units regularly check on her children, offering treatment and guidance when they need it most. With the shelter materials she received, she now has a roof to protect her family, and the cash assistance has allowed her to cover essential day-to-day needs.
Still, challenges surround them. Food is limited, and Yubo worries about feeding her children. “We need more food,” she said softly. “It is the hardest part.”
Even with these hardships, her hope circles back to home. She longs to return, but the risk remains too high. “We want to go back,” she said, her voice steady. “But it is still dangerous. We are asking for peace… for a way to return safely.”
For now, Yubo focuses on keeping her family safe, drawing strength from what they’ve survived. Her journey reflects the quiet resilience of many mothers navigating conflict and displacement, and underscores why aid programs’ rapid, life-saving interventions remain essential.
Leaving everything behind to protect family
Protecting his family was also Dulecha Jateni’s main concern when he had to flee his home in July 2025, after the conflict crept towards Melka Adi. “There was no time to think,” he later said. “Only to move.” The forty-year-old father of ten had lived his entire life on the same land, raising cattle, farming small plots, and sending his children to school with the hope that they would grow into something more than he had ever been allowed to become.
Dulecha Jateni had to flee the place he had been living in for his whole life to protect himself and his family, and found refuge at the Melka Adi IDP site.
Photo: Mahetem Seleshi for the IRC
But the conflict along the Oromia–Somali border changed everything in a single day. He and his family were among thousands walking dusty roads with nothing but the clothes they carried. “My children kept asking if we would sleep outside,” he recalled. “I didn’t know how to answer.” Now, weeks later, the family lives on the Melka Adi IDP site, miles from the place they once called home.
Rebuilding and looking towards the future
The shelter he has built from the materials provided through the rapid response program funded by the EU stands in a long line of temporary homes, plastic sheets stretched over wooden poles, flapping in the wind. Alongside shelter support, Dulecha and his family have also received healthcare and multi-purpose cash assistance, made possible through funding from the European Union.
Some of the temporary homes built by the internally displaced people at the Melka Adi IDP site, in East Borena, November 2025.
Photo: Mahetem Seleshi for the IRC
What he longs for the most is home, not just the land, but the life that came with it. The fields. The school. The sense of belonging. Above all, the safety allowed his children to dream. “If peace comes, we will go back the same day,” he said with a quiet certainty. “That is all we want.”
For now, he watches over his children, trying to hold onto hope while living in a place that reminds him daily of what has been lost. His resilience is quiet but unmistakable, the resilience of a father determined to rebuild, even when the path home remains uncertain.
Dreaming of returning home
In another IDP site, in Hudet, Alima, 33 years old, and a mother of eight children, is faced with the same uncertainty. She arrived here from Garbii Didisa after the fighting grew too close. “When the situation escalated, we knew it was no longer safe,” she explained. “We left with whatever we could carry.” She walked for hours, carrying nothing but her children and the fear of what might happen if she stayed.
Alima, 33, sits on a low wooden stool outside the shelter she recently built from the materials provided through the IRC's EU-funded work.
Photo: Mahetem Seleshi for the IRC
Before the conflict, Alima’s life looked very different. She raised cattle and goats, her family’s main source of income. By the time she reached the IDP site in Hudet, she had only four goats left. She ended up selling even those. “I didn’t want to,” she said, “but my children needed food.”
Some of the residents of the Hudet IDP site, in the Somali Regional State.
Photo: Mahetem Seleshi for the IRC
But she is honest about the hardship. There is little food. No income. Each day is a choice between stretching what little they have or going without.
Still, in the middle of all this uncertainty, Alima finds a sliver of gratitude. “At least we are safe here,” she said. “We sleep without fear. Peace…even a small one…means a lot.”
Like Dulecha, she dreams of going back home, of rebuilding, of raising cattle again, of giving her children a life that is more than survival. But until peace returns, she holds on to the small wins: clean water close by, a roof she built with her own hands, and the hope that safety is the first step toward starting over.
How the European Union is helping the internally displaced people
Life in displacement is far from easy, but support from the Ethiopia Rapid Response Mechanism (ET-RRM), a joint program between the IRC and other INGOs, which is designed to provide immediate and life-saving assistance to populations affected by sudden disasters, such as climate disasters, conflicts, or epidemics, is often critical.
Funded by the European Union (EU), the program is helping many individuals cope with their situation by providing them with materials to build temporary shelters and homes, medical care, non-food items, cash and access to clean water. These are important steps to allow the displaced populations to regain some control over their lives.
About our work with the European Union
The International Rescue Committee partners with the European Union to provide life-saving support to people caught in conflict and disasters around the world. Our work funded by the EU enables people to survive, recover and rebuild their lives.
