7/8/2025–|Last update: 03:25 (Mecca time)
Doctors Without Borders said on Wednesday that the major discounts in humanitarian aid caused a rapid deterioration of living conditions for refugees in the Gambila region of Ethiopia.
She reported that this situation has suspended nutrition services in 4 refugee camps, out of 7, which prompted 80 children under the age of five towards the risk of life -threatening malnutrition.
Doctors Without Borders urged the humanitarian organizations and the Ethiopian authorities to increase support and strengthen the health system, and stressed that the living conditions of refugees in the Gambila region are deteriorating quickly after major discounts in humanitarian aid in the region.
It attributed the sharp decline to the global decline in support from major donors such as the American Agency for International Development, which put pressure on basic services such as food distribution, health care, clean water and sanitation services.
The Gampella region is located in southwestern Ethiopia near the border with southern Sudan, and has hosted large numbers of refugees, most of them from South Sudan since 2014.
More than 395,000 refugees have been living in 7 camps, including Cole camp, where MSF has been providing health care services for more than a decade.
Doctors Without Borders recorded a 55%increase in children in the entry of children to the therapeutic nutrition center of Doctors Without Borders, compared to last year 2024, and the patient visits rate for the outpatient department increased by 58%, and the number of women who attend prenatal care sessions increased by 72%.
Since October 2024, refugees in the Cole camp have received no more than 600 calories a day, less than 30% of the recommended minimum, which is 2100 calories per person per day.
Other refugee camps in the area are witnessing a similar situation; Sometimes the distribution of food stops for months, due to disturbances in international supply chains and lack of financing.
“We receive more patients from other camps, due to the fact that these services are no longer available locally after the withdrawal of many NGOs from the region due to funding discounts,” said Armand Derx, the coordinator of the MSF project in Ghamble.
He added, “We are in doctors without limits, who are burdened by increasing the number of patients, and we are afraid that this number will continue to rise in the coming months.”
“While wandering in the camp, you will see many empty buildings: places that were used by NGOs that have withdrawn now,” Derx added, highlighting that their absence is “highly perceived and the services that were supporting this society have now disappeared,” as he put it.
