Ethiopia: First UN food aid convoy to Tigray since ceasefire

Fifteen trucks entered this region on Wednesday, where 5.4 million people are in food distress according to the World Food Programme.

A truck chartered by the World Food Program during a previous food delivery in Tigray (Ethiopia), May 15, 2022. (AFP)

A vital delivery. A World Food Program (WFP) convoy entered Ethiopia’s Tigray region on Wednesday (November 16th), the first of its kind since the signing in early November of an agreement to end two years of conflict in northern Ethiopia. A total of fifteen trucks loaded with foodstuffs were able to access this area ravaged by civil war and famine.

The delivery of humanitarian aid has so far been prevented by the forces and militias of Amhara, a neighboring region, which supported the Ethiopian federal army against the Tigrayan rebels. “Vital food aid will now be distributed in the coming days to the population of the locality of Mai Tsebri”, continues the WFP. “Additional food and medical cargo will follow imminently, via all possible routes.”

The military leaders of the two camps initialed on Saturday a document implementing this agreement, in particular concerning the disarmament of the rebels, the restoration of services and the “unimpeded” delivery of humanitarian aid to Tigray. The region has been virtually cut off from the world for more than a year and is in dire need of food, medicine, fuel and access to telecommunications services. According to a WFP estimate, 5.4 million people in Tigray are going hungry due to the recent conflict.