Tigray aid situation worsening by the day, warns UN
Sep 03, 2021
New York [US], August 3 : The aid crisis in Ethiopia's Tigray region is worsening with stocks of relief aid, cash and fuel "running very low or depleted", the United Nations said.
Since 12 July, less than 10 per cent of the trucks that should have reached desperate populations affected by months of fighting, have managed to get through, according to the UN aid coordination office OCHA.
It noted that the only access route to Tigray, via the Afar region using the Semera-Abala corridor, has been inaccessible since the 22nd of August.
Humanitarian partners estimate that 100 trucks of food, non-food items, and fuel need to enter Tigray every day to sustain an adequate response.
The OCHA also highlighted that in addition to food, a minimum of 200,000 litres of fuel is required for the humanitarian response every week.
But since 12 July, only 282,000 litres have reached Tigray and none since August 16.
The UN agency pointed out that around USD 7 million is needed every week to sustain humanitarian operations in Tigray - equivalent to 300 million birrs in local currency - including for staff salaries, local procurement, and cash-based assistance. But only 47 million birrs has been brought in since July 12, it said.
The spillover of a 10-month long conflict between Ethiopian troops and the Tigray Defence Force into neighbouring Afar and Amhara regions, continues to affect civilians, resulting in food insecurity, displacement, and the disruption of livelihoods.
Some 1.7 million people are estimated to be facing food insecurity in Afar and Amhara. Last month, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that "a humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding before our eyes" with more than two million people displaced, and reportedly 300,000 more people displaced in Afar and Amhara.
At least 400,000 people are living in famine-like conditions, with the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) warning that 100,000 face severe acute malnutrition within the year.
