Ethiopia’s severe drought threatens to derail the gains made over the years on maternal and newborn mortality in the country

GODE, Ethiopia - "When I saw the hand of my child coming out, I ran for our lives. We traveled 87 km to the nearest health facility… We are lucky to be both alive", says 24-year-old Ayan, recovering from a cesarean that saved their lives at Gode Hospital, one of the towns most impacted by the recent drought in the Somali region.

Ms. Ayan is one of the hundred thousands of Somali's displaced by the prolonged drought in the region and affecting nearly 8 million people across the eastern and southern Ethiopia regions. Nearly 286,000 people have fled their homes in search of assistance after losing their livelihoods.

"We have lost everything we had; 30 goats and 10 cattle. We only have one cattle who barely can stand on its feet. It is too weak to walk by itself. We depend on them", admits Ayan who worries about the future of her seven children.

"Of all the droughts I have lived in my 60 years of life, this one is the worst in 40 years. This year, there is no water or pasture anywhere you go. I don't know how we are going to survive" adds Ms. Barkhado - Ayan's mother - who has also sought help at the nearest IDP camp.

With the number of livestock deaths reaching a staggering 1.4 million and increasing by the day, the only source of income for Ayan has evaporated as fast as any hope for the future.

Some kilometres away from Gode, in the small village of Gabi, makeshift IDP camp shelters 800 households affected by the drought. Some meters away, the dry land is scattered with animal corpses after three consecutive rainy seasons killed nearly 1.5 million livestock across the region. © UNFPA Ethiopia/Paula Seijo

The gruelling trek to access maternal and reproductive health services

The recent drought has exacerbated the humanitarian needs in the region and added unbearable pressure on an already weak health system with limited health facilities, workforce, and poor infrastructure.

"We noticed an increase in maternal and neonatal deaths in the last months. Almost all cases are women who traveled as far as 200 km to reach the facility with a labor complication and no transport", says Dr. Mahamed Sheh, Medical Director at Gode Hospital.

According to the Ethiopian Public Health Institute, in Somali, more than 60% of the population walk for more than an hour to reach the nearest health facility regardless of their functionality status.

"Displaced mothers arrived with a complication and they return back in the same condition. We don't have maternity waiting home and we can not keep them here for a month waiting in the delivery ward or in the hall. When they are back, sometimes is too late," says Aston Ma'am, a midwife at the hospital.

Despite the critical importance of antenatal and postnatal care services and the recent progress in reducing maternal and newborn mortality and morbidity in the country, services in the region are minimal or overwhelmed due to the drought, placing mothers and newborns at grave risk.

Ensuring no mothers and newborn is left behind

While all eyes are placed on Ukraine, much support is needed to increase the coverage of maternal and reproductive health services and protect the needs of women and girls in the region, within a rapidly aggravating humanitarian situation.

UNFPA, with the support of Irish Aid and in partnership with UNICEF, is scaling up its response with a two-year package of essential health services aiming to address the most urgent protection and maternal and reproductive health needs while building the resilience and responsiveness of the health system to recurrent climate change hazards.

From the deployment of midwives in Mobile Health Units to the provision of critical supplies such as emergency reproductive health kits, dignity kits, or ambulances, UNFPA's response will support basic emergency obstetric care across 8 health facilities at Shabele and Erer zone. In addition, UNFPA will establish Women and Girls Friendly Spaces (WGFS) and support One-Stop Centers to ensure access to psychosocial support, GBV case management and clinical management of rape (CMR) for survivors.

The UNFPA Humanitarian Response appeal of nearly $24 million will support the strengthening of the health system and build back the capacities of maternal and reproductive health services in Somali and other 7 crisis-affected regions in the country through the end of 2022. To date, 45% of the appeal remains underfunded.

Though for Ayan and her family the loss is significant, she is glad that all her children are well. She prays for assistance to come and to resume her pastoralist life sooner and in better times.

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