WFP Says Ready to Continue Delivering Humanitarian Assistance to Northern Ethiopia

Addis Ababa, April 20/2022 /ENA/ World Food Program and its partners are ready to continue delivering humanitarian assistance at scale to affected populations across northern Ethiopia, according to WFP-Ethiopia.

WFP Ethiopia Communications Head Claire Nevill told ENA that “WFP and its partners are ready to continue delivering humanitarian assistance at scale to affected populations across northern Ethiopia, in line with a collective, collaborative effort to rapidly scale up the humanitarian response and prevent further suffering.”

A convoy of 30 trucks loaded with supplies of relief and nutritionally fortified food, and five fuel tankers, are on standby to be sent to Tigray region, she said.

The convoys will deliver aid to communities in Tigray as soon as WFP receives assurances of a safe and secure passage, she stated, adding that WFP and humanitarian partners need at least 100 trucks lifesaving cargo to be sent daily to the region.

Praising the recent move of the Ethiopian government, she said the programme welcomes the humanitarian truce announced by the Government of Ethiopia.

According to Nevill, progress was seen in early April with convoys gaining safe access through the Afar corridor into Tigray region.

An estimated 10 million people across conflict affected areas of Tigray, Afar and Amhara regions are in need of food assistance as a direct result of the conflict, the head pointed out.

WFP is targeting 3.5 million people across all the three regions, 2.13 million in Tigray, 650,000 in Amhara and 630,000 in Afar, with emergency food assistance, while the government and partners target the rest.

Since mid-March WFP has reached over 450,000 people in Amhara with lifesaving assistance. In Afar, WFP has reached close to 300,000 people in the current distribution round, Nevill said.

The head revealed the programme has provided lifesaving food assistance for more than 4.4 million people across Tigray, Afar and Amhara regions since the start of its response in early 2021.