To address the needs of crisis-affected populations, IOM proposes to:

• Provide lifesaving humanitarian assistance through multi-purpose cash transfers (MPCT) for vulnerable IDPs across Ethiopia to cover basic needs like emergency food, livelihoods, shelter, and WASH, as well as some transportation costs. Considering that IDPs are on the move and the needs of affected people are diverse, unconditional cash-based assistance will enable beneficiaries to prioritize their most pressing needs in a dignified manner; 
• Continue to provide emergency food assistance as part of its support to vulnerable migrant returnees arriving at land PoE.

In 2022, IOM’s CCCM teams will provide site coordination and management support to enable the provision of assistance and protection to displaced populations and returnees, including activities to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. IOM will implement CCCM programming directly and through the RRF supporting implementation by other Cluster partners. As CCCM Cluster co-coordinator, IOM will further aim to strengthen the Cluster, newly activated in 2021, and continue to provide strategic and technical guidance and support to Cluster partners and government authorities. CCCM support will focus on the four pillars of response:

• Site/area coordination, including information management
  • Support to site management/local authorities for the coordination of humanitarian response in their area of responsibility;
  • Production of information products for coordination and decision-making.
• Site planning, maintenance and upgrading
  • Maintenance/improvement of communal structures, small-scale sites, or local infrastructure;
  • Implementation of safety, accessibility, and protection risk audits, including on gender-based violence (GBV) risk mitigation. Identified risks are addressed either through direct implementation or referrals.
• Community participation/self-governance activities
  • Establishment and training of community representative bodies, such as site management committees, Kebele committees (in return/out-of-site locations), women’s committees and youth committees, to act as a liaison between communities and humanitarian actors/authorities;
  • Running of community feedback mechanisms (CFM) in both IDP and returnee locations, including the referral of complaints to relevant actors for follow-up/closure.
• Capacity-Building
  • Conducting site management training for staff, authorities, partners, and other stakeholders, with an emphasis on COVID-19 mitigation and protection mainstreaming, including GBV risk mitigation and response.

In 2022, IOM intends to strengthen and expand upon its core health activities in current areas and launch further support to new operational locations in response to needs, incorporating COVID-19 support in its routine primary health care provision including MHPSS. IOM’s interventions are closely coordinated and integrated with the government health system. Activities will include:

• Provision of essential lifesaving primary health-care services to underserved, unreached, crisis-affected communities and returning IDPs;
• Provision of sexual and reproductive health services and referral of GBV cases using existing referral pathways, as well as strengthened coordination with the protection cluster;
• Implementation of health and hygiene promotion on common communicable diseases and other priority health topics in coordination with the WASH sector;
• Provision of mass and routine vaccinations, particularly for children under five years and women of childbearing age. IOM will also incorporate COVID-19 vaccination for targeted groups in areas of operation in collaboration with relevant health offices;
• Rehabilitation of damaged or destroyed health facilities, including the provision of medicines and medical supplies;
• Deployment of IOM health rapid response teams/mobile health and nutrition teams (MHNTs) to assist governmental health offices at all levels in early detection, referral, and emergency case management;
• Supporting disease surveillance, early warning, and response systems;
• Capacity-building trainings to government health workers through formal trainings and on the job mentorship.
• Provision of health support for returnee migrants, including essential life-saving primary health care services and secondary healthcare through local referrals.

In 2022, the overall objective of the MHPSS programme is to build sustainable local capacities and provide comprehensive, integrated and community-based MHPSS services that promote the resilience, mental health and overall well-being of crisis-affected populations. Activities will be aligned with the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) pyramid of intervention, covering all four levels, and considering MHPSS mainstreaming in all relevant IOM Ethiopia programming. Implementation is in line with the IOM Manual on Community-Based Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergencies and Displacement. Activities will include:

• Capacity-building on basic MHPSS, psychological first aid (PFA), basic communication and counselling skills, reintegration counselling, service mapping and referral, MHPSS and GBV mainstreaming, staff care, the WHO Mental Health Global Action Program - Humanitarian Intervention Guide (mhGAP HIG) for service providers, including government staff, humanitarian actors, university psychology teachers and IOM staff, to provide quality MHPSS services to IDPs and returning migrants;
• Implementation of community-based socio-relational activities targeting displaced families, vulnerable host community members and other vulnerable groups. These include cultural, creative and art-based activities, as well as sport and play activities;
• Provision of individual and group counselling by trained IOM MHPSS staff and referral to specialized MHPSS and protection services, if required;
• Awareness-raising on psychosocial well-being, on the impact of GBV on mental health, stress-management and positive coping mechanisms, service availability, and general protection, including on COVID-19;
• Provision of initial screening, counselling, and support group sessions to IDPs, refugees, migrant returnees, victims of trafficking (VoT), former combatants and GBV survivors by a group of trained psychosocial counsellors.
• Expansion of the buddy system and peer to peer networks for migrant returnees, including supporting local partners in providing MHPSS services in areas of return to ensure a continuity of care.

In 2022, IOM, in coordination with UNHCR, government, and other partners, will provide relocation assistance and protection in a timely, safe, voluntary and dignified manner for emergency movement assistance from points of entry (PoEs) to designated camps in Ethiopia, as well as relocation between camps, particularly in the context of Tigray region. There is an effective feedback mechanism in place to ensure that beneficiaries receive adequate and timely information on access to travel and movement assistance. Experienced medical and operations staff are deployed in operational areas to ensure their safety and dignity. Activities will include:

• Implementation of re-departure awareness raising and medical screening to determine fitness to travel for significant protection concerns;
• Referral of cases requiring immediate medical attention or protection;
• Operational escorts for movements. 
• Provision of emergency transportation of refugees from PoEs to camps, as well as inter-camp transportation for protection;
• Provision of medical escorts to the most vulnerable medical cases.
• Provide safe return options in the form of cash for onward transportation allowances to the most vulnerable returnees;

IOM aims to strengthen its protection response in crisis settings through the following interventions:

• Improve capacities to conduct regular monitoring to identify protection risks, facilitate community mobilization and community-led discussions and protection information sessions to strengthen IOM’s overall response, and incorporate an evidence-based approach to addressing protection risks and concerns into all programming;
• Continue reinforcing IOM’s efforts on protection mainstreaming and GBV risk mitigation including through the integration of mitigation measures through all sectors and activities; training of staff on protection principles, GBV risk mitigation, prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA), and child protection.
• Set up specialized programming and response such as GBV case management including individual protection assistance (one-off assistance to persons with special needs and at-risk persons), cash for protection in the framework of GBV case management for survivors, safe referrals, counselling, psychosocial support, and transportation.

To strengthen the protection response to vulnerable returning migrants at air and land PoEs, IOM plans to carry out the following interventions:

• Provide family tracing and reunification (FTR) assistance to UASC;
• Register returnees’ biodata to better identify the protection needs of migrant returnees and to facilitate referrals;
• Provide tailored post-arrival assistance for VHR beneficiaries, including temporary accommodation at the IOM transit centre and onward transportation allowance for adult returnees;
• Facilitate alternative care solutions for UASC as well as other very vulnerable returnees that end up stranded in Addis Ababa due to the impossibility to return to their areas of origin (areas in conflict).
• Train key stakeholders, including government and non-government agencies as well as IOM staff, on key protection issues such as child protection, counter-trafficking, smuggling, and GBV risk mitigation.

IOM’s 2022 WASH strategy will focus on the expansion of emergency response capacities coupled with recovery activities in areas that are stabilizing. In close coordination with local government authorities and the WASH cluster, IOM will implement WASH programming directly and through RRF sub-granting to international and national NGOs. Activities will include:

• Rehabilitation and expansion of water supply systems and water trucking as a temporary solution prior to the completion of work on water point rehabilitation;
• Construction of emergency sanitation facilities and upgrade and maintenance of existing facilities in IDP sites (gender segregated);
• Construction or rehabilitation of communal sanitation facilities, including handwashing facilities in health posts/facilities, schools, and entry/border points, based on community consultations, and taking into account gender-specific needs;
• Hygiene promotion and awareness-raising including on COVID-19, and including capacity-building of relevant local actors;
• Provision of basic hygiene kits including menstrual hygiene management (MHM) components;
• Provision of operation and maintenance tools and capacity-building of WASH committees on water supply system management in collaboration with local government;
• Construction of household latrines for returnees through in-kind and cash-based interventions;
• Provision of WASH and infection prevention and control (IPC) services at the health facilities supported by IOM.

IOM’s 2022 ES/NFI programme will pursue emergency response as well as recovery activities in more stable locations. Emergency response interventions will ensure critical steps are taken to provide safety, dignity and access to basic household supplies and emergency shelter for displacement-affected populations and returnee migrants, while recovery programmes will pursue participatory shelter repairs and rehabilitation targeting returnees and affected populations. Housing and land issues will be assessed and prioritized for support in all relevant contexts to ensure adequate security of tenure and avoid the eviction of beneficiaries. Cash-based interventions (CBI) will be considered, dependent on the context of each target area. Where possible, shelter interventions will be conducted alongside the WASH, CCCM, and health sectors to increase the impact of the response. Activities will include:

• Response to sudden displacement due to floods, drought, conflict and other events using appropriate response modalities based on needs, market feasibility and level of destruction, including the provision of ES/NFI kits, basic shelter repair assistance (capacity-building and provision of rehabilitation kits), and cash for rent;
• In Tigray, upgrade of existing IDP shelter solutions such as unfinished buildings and piloting the neighbourhood approach proposed by the ES/NFI Cluster;
• Provision of shelter repair assistance to returning IDPs to promote recovery after conflict using a mixture of in-kind and cash-based approaches;
• Provision of NFIs to vulnerable returnees at air and land PoEs based on returnees’ individual needs. These often include dignity kits, WASH NFIs, clothes, and shoes, as well as infant care items;
• Through the RRF, support to ES/NFI Cluster partners to respond to emergencies by continuing the ES/NFI Cluster pipeline of in-kind NFI and emergency shelter kits. The RRF will also complement partner responses through cash for NFI support.

As co-lead of the ES/NFI Cluster in Ethiopia, co-chair of five sub-national cluster coordination structures for the Northern Ethiopia response (four in Tigray and Amhara and one in Afar) and sub-national co-coordinator in other displacement-affected areas, including Somali region, East Wellega (Oromia region), and Benishangul Gumuz, IOM will continue to support the cluster through:

• Allocation of personnel and resources across the country based on operational needs and the recommendation of the ES/NFI strategic advisory board, with the aim to increase the seniority of coordination staff and information management capacity on the ground. 
• At the sub-national level, ensuring appropriate advocacy for the affected populations and producing relevant sector products such as 5W (Who does What When Where and for Whom), situation reports, and response dashboards.

IOM supports climate- and conflict-affected communities across Ethiopia to re-establish social and economic structures, as well as local, regional, and federal governance structures, in the wake of crises. In 2022, IOM will focus on (1)implementing interventions working with community networks and local governance structures to promote social cohesion and strengthen institutional capacity, contributing to community self-reliance and the conditions necessary for recovery; (2)supporting sustainable livelihood and economic activities for vulnerable IDPs, returnee and host community households to improve their socioeconomic conditions and strengthen their local integration, focusing on the socioeconomic empowerment of vulnerable youth and women in view of high youth unemployment and gender disparities in Ethiopia, and (3) providing viable alternatives to prevent, mitigate and reduce the drivers and negative effects of irregular and return migration and to stabilize socioeconomically distressed communities – aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic - through community-based interventions in ten key migration hotspots, promoting partnerships and foster positive interaction among returnees and non-migrant members of the community, as well as with local NGOs that have an active presence at the grassroots level. Activities will include:

• Implementation of inclusive governance dialogue and training, ensuring community-driven solutions and recovery through the community-based planning (CBP) model;
• Rehabilitation and reconstruction of community infrastructure;
• Provision of trainings and practical work experience, as well as livelihoods assistance through on- and off-farm enterprises for vulnerable IDPs, returnee and host community households;
• Implementation of community-based and individual reintegration/livelihoods projects for vulnerable migrant returnees.

With the overall goal of contributing to the Government of Ethiopia (GoE)’s efforts to progressively resolve the displacement of IDPs in the country, IOM will focus on supporting the implementation of the Durable Solutions Initiative (DSI) Ethiopia, jointly launched by the GoE and the United Nations in December 2019. In 2022, IOM will continue to support:

• Establishment and/or coordination of federal, regional, and zonal durable solution working groups (DSWGs);
• Provision of technical support to federal and regional governments to deliver principled durable solutions interventions;
• Setting up of national and regional governance systems for postcrisis recovery;
• Strengthening of government and DSWGs’ institutional capacity for the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of durable solutions, and improving data for durable solutions policy and programme design.
• Implementation of CBP processes to address communities’ self-identified recovery priorities, including the rehabilitation of community infrastructure.

Given the fragility of state and community structures, IOM aims to support national processes to promote peace and reconciliation and the building of an inclusive peace infrastructure and dispute resolution mechanisms. IOM will implement interventions that aim to strengthen the capacity of local government and local inter-governmental structures on conflict prevention, as well as customary conflict resolution mechanisms. In addition, through a bottom-up approach focused on communities at the grassroots level, IOM will organize interactive community activities to find durable resolutions to conflicts and to foster stability and social cohesion among various ethnic groups, including marginalized community members such as youth, women, and persons with disability. Activities will include:

• Supporting community dialogues for communities to settle disputes and grievances;
• Strengthening customary and statutory conflict management mechanisms through coordination platforms at different administrative levels;
• Creating/capacitating women’s peace platforms on conflict management systems. These platforms will be used to discuss grievances and human rights violations and linking them with the respective referral systems;
• Capacity-building of local government experts on conflict prevention and resolution;
• Establishing and strengthening conflict early warning systems at the local level by establishing situation rooms and capacitating the local government on the Conflict Early Warning and Response Mechanism (CEWARN);
• Revitalizing peace committees at the local level and advocating for inclusive and peaceful communities by supporting the communities’ priorities linked to grievances or promoting peace, including but not limited to income-generating activities, rehabilitation of social services (including schools, health posts, and water points), and community cultural activities/games;
• Supporting social and economic reintegration of former combatants, including MHPSS support.

In 2022 in response to drought in southern Ethiopia, IOM support more permanent solutions for water shortages including borehole drilling in arid areas, complementing emergency WASH activities to respond to the needs of impacted communities and help them endure future shocks. Activities will include:

• Identification of arid areas dependent on water trucking without available water sources through geological surveys; 
• Drilling of boreholes and creation of new water points; 
• Setting up of community management structures, mainstreaming gender and protection considerations.

IOM Ethiopia will continue to support the recovery and strengthening of resilient health systems with the aim to move from the direct provision of essential services through IOM, to more comprehensive health services through a bolstered national capacity. Activities will include:

• Rehabilitation or construction of damaged health facilities, particularly in conflict-affected areas;
• Provision of incentives to health workers to revitalize services in non-functional health facilities;
• Provision of formal trainings on key priority topics and on job capacity-building to government health workers.

In order to carry out a comprehensive resolution of post-conflict issues and challenges in areas of relative peace and stability in Ethiopia, there is a need to include land and property restitution as necessary steps toward recovery, and as part of possible broader reconciliation processes, and durable solutions for displacement-affected communities and populations. This approach will also require the rehabilitation and reconstruction of damaged infrastructure, especially community properties, due to the destruction caused during inter-ethnic and inter-regional conflicts that affected the personal property of families and communities.

In line with the Government of Ethiopia’s policy of peace and reconciliation and the need to restore dignity in recovery, IOM will work closely with the relevant institutions and partners to restore property rights and other priority interventions in the recovery process. IOM will target regions and woredas, with recognized and legitimate local government authorities, that are gradually recovering from displacement and/or, hosting returned, relocated, or locally integrated IDPs. This process will facilitate their personal and community recovery and development. Activities will include:

• Develop methodologies for detailed assessments;
• Carry out field missions in target areas to ascertain the extent of destruction and level of needs for housing, land and property interventions;
• Conduct key informant interviews and focus group discussions to understand the dynamics of the conflict and destruction;
• Identify and profile likely victims and potential target populations with the support of the community and the local government;
• Identify and quantify properties for restoration;
• Evaluate the cost of rehabilitation and engage communities and local authorities in strategies to address post-conflict land and property issues, including the restoration of property rights to the bearers among other efforts;
• Build the capacity of local authorities and community leaders in managing expectations.

IOM uses a holistic two-fold approach to implement activities that contribute to disaster risk reduction and uplift communities overall. On one hand, IOM will work to prevent and/or mitigate displacement related to natural hazards through improved disaster risk management, preparedness and response. On the other hand, IOM will support communities to build resilience through the recovery and reconstruction process in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. Activities will include:

• Conducting hazard mapping and multi-hazard risk assessments;
• Establishing community-based disaster risk management committees, including early warning systems and sustainable livelihoods recovery;
• Providing hazard-resilient transitional shelter for housing and community infrastructure;
• Supporting dialogue initiatives on mobility, risks, and resilience;
• Capacity-building of the government on risk-informed policies and strategies, protection measures and policy development.

IOM will continue to support PoEs and their main stakeholders to strengthen health aspects of border management amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This work will include:

• Providing capacity development support in humanitarian border management for officials who work and manage PoEs, focusing on the principles of Health, Mobility and Border Management (HBMM) based on Ethiopia’s first HBMM Manual developed with the support of IOM in 2021;
• Establishing and deploying mobile border patrols at four key border crossing points by supporting the development of border patrol standard operating procedures, conducting counter-trafficking and migrant protection training, and providing equipment support;
• Establishing and/or strengthening adequate COVID-19 testing and isolation protocols and facilities at land and air PoEs, including ensuring there is adequate and functional WASH infrastructure to ensure proper IPC at PoEs.

IOM Ethiopia will continue to support the Government of Ethiopia to strengthen health systems, in particular relating to disease surveillance and outbreak case management. Activities will include:

• Capacity-building for health bureaus to adequately set up surveillance systems to respond to public health emergencies and outbreaks;
• Provision of incentives and logistics support for outbreak case management;
• Procurement of personal protective equipment (PPEs) and supplies needed for outbreak response;
• Training on infection prevention and control (IPC);
• Training on community event-based surveillance for early detection of communicable diseases.

To strengthen systems for mental health and psychosocial support in Ethiopia, IOM will support the following activities:

• Establishment and supervision of peer support systems and buddy systems in collaboration with structures that have an existing grassroots level outreach (e.g. Red Cross volunteers, health extension workers, etc.);
• Provision of mhGAP-HIG training for government health workers, including supporting the national MHPSS-hotline to actively respond to crises.

To provide the Government of Ethiopia and the crisis response community with a reliable evidence base for planning, advocacy, and response, IOM proposes a comprehensive data collection strategy that will apply a holistic view on the different trends and needs of mobile populations in Ethiopia. Activities will include:

• Household Level Surveys: Conducting multi-sectorial needs assessments to inform the humanitarian planning cycle.
• Site Assessments: Collecting multi-sector needs data of locations hosting 20 or more IDP households nationwide.
• Village Assessments: Mapping of infrastructure and services of villages hosting five or more returning IDP households to assess the socioeconomic status of return communities and their absorption capacity.
• Event Tracking: Weekly tracking of population movements nationwide, triggering alerts for further assessment.
• Flow Monitoring: Collecting of regular and irregular migrant movement data (including human trafficking) from strategic transit points nationwide to analyse regional routes and inform developmental programming.
• Thematic Analyses: Producing thematic papers such as the durable solutions index report and stability index report to monitor community stabilization, peace-building processes, safety and security, and livelihoods opportunities to better bridge the humanitarian-development-peace nexus (HDPN).
• Mobility data and epidemiological outbreak reports analysis:  Analysing relevant data to produce situation reports, infographic, maps, spatial and geographic information including regional-level analysis leading to the identification of key intervention areas, alongside informed and targeted public health interventions at local, national, and regional levels that can help mitigate the spread of communicable disease.