It is Ethiopia's second largest city with 384 000 inhabitants and with the rapid urban growth witnessed in the city, Dire Dawa's urban population is expected to grow by nearly 50 percent by the year 2015. One third of the urban population has no access to water.
Three quarters of marginalised groups reported having an acute lack of ability to satisfy food and clothing needs. There were 5643 street children as of 1997, a number most likely to have quadrupled since. There are at least 15 000 dwellers living in high-risk flooding areas. There are an additional 160 000 living in slums, or sub-standard housing.
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