The International Organization for Migration (IOM), launched an appeal for USD 77.6 million to provide humanitarian assistance to more than 1.2 million internally displaced persons (IDPs), returnees, host community members and migrants in Ethiopia.
The East African nation faces some of the most complex migration issues in the world. Social, economic, political and climatic change factors drive populations to leave their homes both from within and outside Ethiopia’s borders.
It continues to receive migrants and refugees, 88,044 between January and October last year, particularly from neighbouring Eritrea, South Sudan and Somalia. While Ethiopia’s displacement landscape shifted significantly in 2019, basic needs remain high.
Relocation assistance to refugees is a vital lifesaving operation and failure to do so may result in increased humanitarian needs and protection concerns for refugee and host communities.
Living conditions for IDPs, returnees and many host communities are dire. Shelter, safe access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), basic health services, and critical non-food items (NFIs) are urgently needed.
“IOM Ethiopia plans to provide support following two principal objectives: saving lives while responding to the humanitarian crisis and supporting the transition and recovery of crisis-affected communities,” said Ester Ruiz de Azua, IOM Ethiopia’s Emergency and Post-Crisis Programme Coordinator.
Community-based stabilization, peacebuilding and reconciliation efforts are needed to resolve and prevent further conflict-induced internal displacement.
In response, IOM Ethiopia aims to provide comprehensive data collection through the Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM), Shelter and Non-food Item (NFI) programmes, WASH interventions, site management support, mental health and psychosocial support, refugee transportation, assistance to vulnerable returnees from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and emergency health support in conflict-affected areas.
IOM appeals for USD 77.6 Million to provide humanitarian assistance in Ethiopia
Coronavirus Spreads through Africa
Africa reported its first case of the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, on February 15, 2020-a full two months after it was first identified in China. Once it arrived on the continent, the virus spread to over 30 countries in less than a month. North Africa has seen the highest number of COVID-19 infections thus far, though more West African countries have been affected than any other region on the continent. With confirmed cases in Africa rising at a rate of approximately 26 percent per day, time is of the essence if Africa is to avoid the worst effects of the pandemic. While nearly two-thirds of affected African countries thus far have reported only imported infections, slowing the exponential expansion of the virus will increasingly rely on reducing in-country transmissions.
Africa Sees ‘Extremely Rapid Evolution’ of Pandemic, UN Says
More African countries closed their borders Thursday as the coronavirus’ local spread threatened to turn the continent of 1.3 billion people into an alarming new front for the pandemic. Africa is seeing an “extremely rapid evolution,” the World Health Organization’s regional chief, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, told reporters. Thirty-six of Africa’s 54 countries now have cases, with the total over 720. Chad and Niger announced their first cases Thursday. The first case in sub-Saharan Africa was announced Feb. 28, less than three weeks ago. Moeti said she did not believe that large numbers of infected people are going undetected but acknowledged a shortage of testing kits. Forty-three countries have testing capability, up from two when the outbreak began. By Monday, countries will have 60,000 testing kits. The WHO regional chief also expressed concern about travel restrictions and their impact on the ability to deliver needed resources. The WHO is considering humanitarian corridors, Moeti said. But many African nations were taking their cue from China and other countries by sharply restricting travel.
The happiest and unhappiest countries in the world
At a time like this—when the coronavirus pandemic is sweeping the globe and has killed over 10,000 people—we need some happy news. The annual World Happiness Report has just been released, timed to the UN’s annual International Day of Happiness on March 20. For the third year in a row, Finland has placed at the top of the list as the happiest country in the world, with Denmark coming in second, followed by Switzerland, which pushed Norway out of the top three this year.
And while it seems like a strange time to be evaluating happiness, the editors of the report point out that challenging times can actually increase happiness. “The global pandemic poses great risks for some of the main supports for well-being, most especially health and income,” the editors explain. “As revealed by earlier studies of earthquakes, floods, storms, tsunamis and even economic crises, a high trust society quite naturally looks for and finds co-operative ways to work together to repair the damage and rebuild better lives. This has led sometimes to surprising increases in happiness in the wake of what might otherwise seem to be unmitigated disasters.”
The reason that people get happier in the fact of disasters, they say? “People are pleasantly surprised by the willingness of their neighbors and their institutions to work in harness to help each other. This delivers a heightened sense of belonging, and pride in what they have been able to achieve by way of mitigation. These gains are sometimes great enough to compensate for the material losses.”
The World Happiness Report is an annual survey by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network for the United Nations. It looks at the state of global happiness in 156 countries, ranking countries using the Gallup World Poll and six factors: levels of GDP, life expectancy, generosity, social support, freedom and corruption income. The World Happiness Report was originally launched in 2012.
This year, things have improved slightly for the United States. The U.S. ranked number 18—a slight uptick from last year when it ranked 19, although it’s still far below its 11th place ranking in the first World Happiness Report. Last year’s report explained it: “The years since 2010 have not been good ones for happiness and well-being among Americans.”
So where did other major countries fall on the list? The United Kingdom was at number 13 (up two spots from 2019), Germany was again at 17, Japan was at 62 (down four spots from 2019), Russia was at 73 (down five spots) and China was at 94 (down one spot).
Besides the happiest countries, the World Happiness Report also looked at the places where people are the unhappiest. This year, Afghanistan was named the unhappiest place in the world, followed by South Sudan and Zimbabwe.
For the first time, the 2020 report also ranked the happiest cities around the world. The top 10 is dominated by Scandinavian cities, with Finland’s capital of Helsinki ranking as the happiest city in the world.
On the other end of the spectrum, the unhappiest cities have some common themes. Most are located in underdeveloped countries and have experienced war (Kabul in Afghanistan, Sanaa in Yemen), armed conflict (Gaza in Palestine), civil war (Juba in South Sudan, Bangui in the Central African Republic), political instability (Cairo in Egypt) or devastating natural catastrophes (Port-au-Prince in Haiti).
The editors of the report say their ranking is different from other city lists in that their report doesn’t just rely on factors that researchers consider relevant. “Our ranking relies on city residents’ self-reports of how they themselves evaluate the quality of their lives,” say the editors. “Arguably, this bottom-up approach gives a direct voice to the population as opposed to the more top-down approach of deciding ex-ante what ought to matter for the well-being of city residents.”
Read on for the top 20 happiest countries in the world, as well as the 10 unhappiest places, the 10 happiest cities and the 10 unhappiest cities. And wherever you are, try to stay happy, despite it all.
World’s 20 Happiest Countries
Finland
Denmark
Switzerland
Iceland
Norway
Netherlands
Sweden
New Zealand
Austria
Luxembourg
Canada
Australia
United Kingdom
Israel
Costa Rica
Ireland
Germany
United States
Czech Republic
Belgium
World’s Unhappiest Countries
Afghanistan
South Sudan
Zimbabwe
Rwanda
Central African Republic
Tanzania
Botswana
Yemen
Malawi
India
World’s Happiest Cities
Helsinki, Finland
Aarhus, Denmark
Wellington, New Zealand
Zurich, Switzerland
Copenhagen, Denmark
Bergen, Norway
Oslo, Norway
Tel Aviv, Israel
Stockholm, Sweden
Brisbane, Australia
World’s Unhappiest Cities
Kabul, Afghanistan
Sanaa, Yemen
Gaza, Palestine
Port-a-Prince, Haiti
Juba, South Sudan
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Delhi, India
Maseru, Lesotho
Bangui, Central African Republic
Cairo, Egypt
