Editor's Note: On 11/1/06, the International Rescue Committee’s Eritrea program received notice of expulsion from the Government of Eritrea. Story >
Eritrea, located in one of the driest parts of Africa, has long struggled with a devastating crisis caused by chronic drought and the 1998-2000 border war with Ethiopia. Today, more than one million refugees and internally displaced people who have returned to their home villages require humanitarian assistance to survive. About 80 percent of the Eritrean population depends on foreign aid.
The International Rescue Committee began its operations in Eritrea in 2001, administering to a small number of internally displaced people and war-affected populations in the Gash Barka region, the epicenter of the 1998-2000 conflict. At that time, we improved water and sanitation systems and supported livelihoods through seed distribution and small-scale water conservation activities.
In 2003, IRC shifted its programs to the Debub region, which is part of the Temporary Security Zone along the Ethiopian border. This area, once the bread basket of Eritrea, had been hard hit by drought, and residents suffered severe and chronic food deficits.
