Jugend Eine Welt launches emergency aid project in the Ethiopian crisis region of Tigray

The devastating civil war in the Ethiopian crisis region of Tigray ended two years ago. However, the security situation remains tense and the situation of the traumatized people remains extremely dramatic. The local population primarily lacks food and medical care. According to the United Nations, one million internally displaced people live in makeshift camps. One day before World Food Day (October 16th), the Austrian development organization Jugend Eine Welt is launching – thanks to the support of Austrian Development Agency (ADA) – an extensive emergency aid project in the Tigray region.

Long-term on-site help
Jugend Eine Welt has been active in Ethiopia for 26 years and during this time has implemented numerous projects in the areas of education, child protection and emergency aid with the Salesians of Don Bosco. Between 2016 and 2022, Jugend Eine Welt and its local partners focused on the “Solar Skills Training and Environmental Education in Ethiopia” framework program co-financed by the Austrian Development Agency (ADA) in Tigray, Dilla, Addis Ababa and Gambella. This included technical vocational training for young people in the field of solar energy. With the outbreak of the bloody civil war, the first emergency aid program for communities affected by the conflict in Tigray and Amhara started at the end of 2020. Even during extended periods when access to the region was limited, Jugend Eine Welt, through its long-standing local partnerships, was able to continue to reach some of the most vulnerable communities with emergency supplies (including food, water and hygiene materials).

Clean drinking water is urgently needed
The new aid project, which will now run until the beginning of 2026 in the cities of Shire, Adwa and Adigrat as well as Mekele, is based on three pillars: classic emergency aid, such as drinking water and food supplies, school education for children and young people, and psychological help for people traumatized by the war, with a focus on Women. “With the project supported by the ADA, we will be able to provide around 2,700 people with clean drinking water every day. Schools are equipped with blackboards, tables, armchairs, teaching materials and barrier-free toilets. “In addition, women who were affected by sexual violence during the civil war are offered psychological support.”sketched Reinhard Heiserer, Managing Director of Jugend Eine Welta few of the many points from the put together emergency aid program.

Dependent on outside help
Last May made itself Wolfgang Wedan, Global Emergency Relief Coordinator at Jugend Eine Weltitself an image in the Tigray region. “The local people really have nothing left to eat. Children and old people are particularly affected. Children are starving because they have no access to food. The second big topic is health. There is virtually no health care. The residents drink water from dirty paintwork. In the refugee camps, traumatized women and their children have been living in confined spaces for over two years. The little children don’t know anything else. There is hopelessness. I looked into empty eyes”Wedan still can’t get the depressing images out of his head today.

The Styrian will be traveling to Tigray again in the coming days to be there in person at the start of the emergency aid program. Meanwhile, Jugend Eine Welt managing director Heiserer is asking for further help for those in need: “Thanks to the support of the ADA, we can now take the first measures to help the population. But more financial resources are needed. The people of Tigray are dependent on foreign support!”

Further information: www.jugendeinewelt.at

Youth One World donation account: AT66 3600 0000 0002 4000 | Online donations at www.jugendeinewelt.at/spenden | Donations are tax deductible!