UN humanitarians strive to deliver aid in Ethiopia amid challenges

United Nations, September 8: UN humanitarians said Wednesday they have been making relief efforts in Ethiopia despite the challenges of hostilities and drought in the country.
Hostilities in the north continue to impact vulnerable people and the delivery of humanitarian assistance, said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). In parts of the northernmost Tigray and neighboring Afar regions, fighting and insecurity displaced tens of thousands of people.
"There have been no humanitarian convoy movements into the Tigray region since Aug. 23, preventing deliveries of humanitarian supplies such as additional fertilizer for the agricultural season," the office said. The twice-weekly UN Humanitarian Air Service flights between Addis Ababa and Tigray's regional capital of Mekelle stopped on Aug. 25.
However, OCHA said that "within Tigray, we continue distribution of the available fertilizers and other aid."
The office said that more than 16 million people are targeted for humanitarian assistance in eastern and southern Ethiopia where the drought continues. More than 8 million drought-affected people already received food assistance this year, with 1.4 million receiving nutrition supplements, 2.9 million agricultural support and 2.5 million water, sanitation and hygiene services.
"On a more positive note, humanitarian partners were able to reach a site hosting internally displaced people in the Benishangul Gumuz region ... in western Ethiopia, for the first time in over a year," OCHA said in a release. "They provided water, sanitation and hygiene service, shelter and non-food items, emergency health supplies and dignity kits."
Source: Xinhua