Restoring the Basics in Conflict-Affected Communities

How small WASH support is helping families in Ofla rebuild daily life after drought and conflict

Story by: Kedija Sefa and Hilina Abebe/Norwegian Church Aid

In the contested areas of Korem Town and Zata, Ofla, and Chercher districts, active conflict and prolonged drought have steadily worn away livelihoods. Photo: Kedija Sefa/ Norwegian Church Aid

Each morning in Hashenge Locality, Ofla District of Ethiopia, begins with the same challenge for many families: how to manage the day with too little water and almost no basic hygiene supplies.

In the contested areas of Korem Town and Zata, Ofla, and Chercher districts, active conflict and prolonged drought have steadily worn away livelihoods, leaving households to cope with daily shortages that affect health, dignity, and safety. For families already living on the margins, the simple acts of washing, fetching water, or keeping a home clean have become ongoing challenges.

Medhanit Derbew knows this reality well. A mother of two in Hashenge locality, she and her husband rely on daily labor to support their family. Before assistance arrived, soap was often out of reach, and when they had some money, it was only enough for very small amounts.

Medhanit Derbew, a rights-holder in Hashenge Locality, Ofla District. Photo: Kedija Sefa/ Norwegian Church Aid

“Sometimes, if we had money, we bought a small bar of body soap for 50 birr and a very small packet of laundry powder for 30 birr,” she recalled.

Water collection was another daily struggle. When their jerrycan broke, the cost of replacing it, about 200 birr, was beyond what the family could afford, forcing them to borrow from neighbors just to fetch water.

Through a distribution in 2025 supported by OCHA’s Ethiopia Humanitarian Fund (EHF) and implemented by Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) Ethiopia, Medhanit received laundry and body soaps and new jerrycans. “The jerrycan we received not only meets our needs but also prevents us from having to go from neighbor to neighbor in search of one,” she said.

Hygiene and sanitation training further supported her household and others in the community to improve sanitation practices, including constructing latrines in their compounds.

When Basic Items Restore Dignity

A few households away lives Priest Hagazi Beyene, 74, who shares his home with his wife and one of his six children. A lifelong farmer with limited income, he and his wife had long gone without basic hygiene materials.

Accessing a water storage was especially difficult.

Priest Hagazi Beyene, 74, a rights-holder in Hashenge locality, Ofla District, is photographed at a distribution point. Photo: Kedija Sefa/ Norwegian Church Aid

“My wife and I are old and weak. We couldn’t afford a jerrycan, so we had to borrow from neighbors,” he explained.

Through the same EHF-supported intervention, Priest Hagazi received two jerrycans, a bucket, and laundry and body soaps. “Now we have soap to wash our bodies and clothes, and a dishpan, bucket, and jerrycans to fetch water. It has made us as happy as moving into a new home,” he said.

Their situation had recently been made worse by severe floods and hailstorms on August 5, which damaged crops and caused the loss of livestock and property. “We were very affected,” he noted, “but now we are recovering with the help of different supports.”

Stories like those of Medhanit and Priest Hagazi are common across Zata, Ofla, Chercher, and Korem. In response, with funding from OCHA’s Ethiopia Humanitarian Fund, NCA Ethiopia implemented an emergency response to address urgent, unmet needs while supporting early recovery.

Rightsholders are seen taking home essential non-food items they received from a distribution point in Ofla District. Photo: Kedija Sefa, Norwegian Church Aid

Essential non-food items were distributed in two rounds across seven localities in Ofla, Korem, and Chercher, reaching 2,500 households, including five localities in Ofla. In parallel, water supply systems were rehabilitated across four districts, schools were supported with improved sanitation facilities, and hygiene promotion activities reached thousands of people.