Ethiopia PSEA Network – Scope 2024 – Ethiopia

Background

In 2016, the Ethiopian Humanitarian Country Team (EHCT) requested the Protection Cluster to develop a national strategy to support interagency efforts to prevent and respond to sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) in humanitarian contexts. The aim of the request was to establish accountability mechanisms to increase the support available to at-risk communities and groups by enforcing zero tolerance for attempted and actual acts of sexual exploitation and abuse by national and international non-governmental organizations (NNGO and iNGO), United Nations (UN) staff, partners, and all other stakeholders involved in the response. The Ethiopia PSEA Network was subsequently established in March 2018. These Terms of Reference update the original TORs that were developed and adopted in 2021.

In Ethiopia, protection from sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA) is an issue of great importance as the country continues to be affected by multiple emergencies that increase the vulnerability of the affected population to SEA. These include inter-ethnic conflicts and related IDP movements, climate shocks, disease outbreaks, among others, exacerbated by economic and financial challenges. As a result, some of the most marginalized and at-risk populations in Ethiopia – particularly women and children – have been affected by multiple shocks, creating an emerging protection crisis in the country. The number of people targeted for humanitarian assistance by the EHCT for 2024 is 15.5 million (Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) 2024). Indeed, it is within this context that the risk of sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) is high, as lessons learned suggest that the proliferation of (new and non-traditional) aid workers, combined with severe restrictions on movement and unequal access to resources/information, may lead to a concentration of power, to the detriment of vulnerable people and groups. This may lead to negative coping strategies, thereby increasing the risk of SEA in Ethiopia.