USAID warns worsening humanitarian situation in Tigray with continued blockade and forced eviction in Western Tigray
January 1, 2022
USAID says that no convoys carrying humanitarian aid reached Tigray’s capital city
of Mekele between December 15 and 30.
USAID also says 30,000 Tigrayans forced out from Western Tigray by Amhara forces since November 21, 2021, bringing the total number of people displaced from Tigray’s Western Zone November 2020 to more than 1.2 million people.
Globe News Net
USAID’s latest report paints a grim picture to the humanitarian situation in northern Ethiopia in general and in Tigray in particular.
Continued GoE Blockade on Tigray
USAID said that the blockade on Tigray by the government of Ethiopia and regional allies has continued.
“Though the recent developments represent an opportunity for progress, insecurity and bureaucratic impediments continue to restrict the provision of principled humanitarian assistance in northern Ethiopia, particularly in Tigray”, the report said.
USAID said that no convoys carrying humanitarian aid has reached Tigray’s capital city of Mekele between December 15 and 30 due to operational challenges, bureaucratic impediments, and insecurity, exacerbating the already dire need for assistance.
The report also said “As of late December, a convoy of trucks carrying food and nutrition supplies is stalled in Afar’s Abala town—the last checkpoint in Afar before entering Tigray—due to insecurity and operational constraints; humanitarian organizations must await a resolution to the extensive delays in Abala before dispatching additional convoys from Semera, according to the Logistics Cluster. Nearly 70 trucks with approval to travel to Mekele remain stalled in Semera as of December 30”, citing report from UN .
The report also showed that only approximately 4 percent of the humanitarian supplies that the UN estimates were required to sustain relief operations during that period, was allowed to enter Tigray during the first three weeks of December.
Worsening Hunger
The report showed that Ethiopia is projected to face a record number of people in need of emergency food assistance during 2022, representing a nearly 40 percent increase from 2021 levels, with the greatest needs concentrated in conflict-affected areas of northern Ethiopia.
The reports shows that between 6.5-7 million are facing severe acute food insecurity; 5.2 million of them are in Tigray. In general, 9.4 million people are projected to need humanitarian assistance in Afar, Amhara, and Tigray.
Critical shortage of cash, food commodities, and fuel
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