For Immediate Release

Office of Press Relations
press@usaid.gov

Press Release

This week, two humanitarian convoys from U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) partner UN World Food Program (WFP) transported emergency food aid to the Tigray and Afar regions of northern Ethiopia, including the first convoy to Tigray in more than three and a half months. This emergency food aid will support more than 100,000 people in northern Ethiopia. The arrival of the convoys is an important development in the effort to provide life-saving assistance to the people of Tigray and Afar, as only road transport can deliver the scale of assistance needed across northern Ethiopia. USAID commends the federal and regional Ethiopian authorities, as well as local communities, which worked together to make this first step possible. USAID urges all parties to ensure sustained and significant access for the delivery of life-saving assistance in these regions, as well as the neighboring Amhara region.

The convoy to Tigray includes 650 metric tons of urgently needed food and nutrition supplies to support the needs of 38,000 people. These food and nutrition supplies are the first to arrive in the region’s capital city of Mekele by road since mid-December, marking the end of the longest period of time without a humanitarian convoy reaching the region. This is a notable breakthrough, building upon recent expansion of humanitarian aid delivered by air. It is critical that there is sustained access to meet the staggering level of needs across Tigray.

In the convoy to Afar, WFP transported nearly 1,100 metric tons of food for 64,000 people in need. USAID is deeply concerned about and working to respond to the increased humanitarian need in Afar, where more than 149,000 people have been displaced due to fighting. USAID humanitarian partners have been providing aid in Afar and Amhara and as a result of increased access they are scaling up assistance in both regions, helping to meet the needs of millions of people.

The United States continues to support all people in need throughout northern Ethiopia, providing more than $530 million in humanitarian assistance since October 2020. We strongly support the March 24 declarations of a humanitarian truce by the Government of Ethiopia reciprocated by Tigray regional authorities, and are eager to see these announcements followed by significant and sustained movement of life-saving assistance. We urge all parties to build upon this positive humanitarian development and work in collaboration with humanitarian organizations to provide sustained humanitarian assistance to all Ethiopians in need and prevent the devastating situation from getting worse.

For the latest updates on US humanitarian assistance in northern Ethiopia, visit: https://www.usaid.gov/humanitarian-assistance/ethiopia.

UN World Food Program
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