Rehabilitation of homes, food support provided through Salesian efforts

(MissionNewswire) The Salesian Mission Office in Madrid has launched a project for the reconstruction and support for the return of people displaced by the conflict, especially women and girls, in the Tigray region of Ethiopia*.

The project aims to help hundreds of people return to villages and cities. The Tigray area has been plagued by war and many areas are still occupied by the military. Even the areas currently free of conflict have been left with serious damage. Since the signing of a peace agreement in November 2022, the situation is slowly returning to normal, but it has left around a million people displaced and thousands of refugees in Sudan.

“In most cases, the territories are still not free,” explained a Salesian working in the area. “But wherever possible, we want people to return to a normal life in their villages. The challenge is that many people who want to return to their homes are now faced with them destroyed, their agricultural land abandoned and all their assets lost. We are working to help people return to a normal life in their villages as soon as possible when it’s safe to do so.”

The project is helping families who want to and can return to their homes, have access to hygiene, health, protection and well-being. “We will rehabilitate homes and provide them with basic necessities for home and hygiene,” explained Raquel Fuente, coordinator of International Cooperation at the Salesian Mission Office.

One of the bigger challenges is to ensure the availability of food by improving the health and food security of families. The Ethiopian government and local authorities have declared a famine emergency in the Tigray region. This makes the fight for food security a priority. The project will help families with agricultural and livestock activities. The aim is to recover agricultural land and support people with the necessary training, seeds and tools.

Fuente added, “We will also work on the healing of traumas after the horrors of two years of open conflict and the losses suffered. This will increase individual resilience, but also social cohesion. Working for a culture of peace and reconciliation will be fundamental for the success of the restarting of the population and for the development of the region.”

Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world with more than 38% of its population living in poverty, according to Feed the Future. Close to 85% of the country’s workforce is employed in agriculture, but frequent droughts severely affect the agricultural economy leaving more than 12 million people chronically, or at least periodically, food insecure. In addition, more than two-thirds of the population is illiterate.

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Sources:

ANS Photo (usage permissions and guidelines must be requested from ANS) 

ANS – Ethiopia – Overcoming the war and rebuilding the Tigray region

Salesian Missions – Ethiopia

UNICEF – Ethiopia

UNHCR – Ethiopia

*Any goods, services, or funds provided by Salesian Missions to programs located in this country were administered in compliance with applicable laws and regulations, including sanctions administered by the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control.