yesterday, almost 40 trucks with humanitarian supplies, including food, left the Afar capital of Semera for Tigray – the first convoy to do so since 18 October.
Meanwhile, trucks containing fuel and medical supplies are still waiting for clearance in Semera.
Around 500 trucks of humanitarian supplies are required per week.
In November 2020, heavy fighting between central Government troops and those loyal to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) has left Ethiopia’s northern regions of Tigray, Amhara, and Afar in dire need of humanitarian assistance.
And after months of killings, looting, and destruction of health centers and farming infrastructure, including irrigation systems that are vital to the production effort, those needs have only surged.
Currently, some seven million people throughout the country are suffering acute food insecurity.
Despite a $40 total injection of new resources to Ethiopia – $25 million from CERF and $15 million from the country-based Ethiopian Humanitarian Fund (EHF) – the country still faces a funding gap of $1.3 billion, including $350 million for the response in Tigray.
Despite an extremely challenging operating environment, humanitarian partners continue to respond to urgent and growing needs across northern Ethiopia, including in Amhara and Afar.
Yesterday, the UN announced that given the security situation in the country, and out of an abundance of caution, it is reducing its footprint in Ethiopia by temporarily relocating all eligible dependents.
