The United Nations said Monday it had released emergency funds to help provide life-saving humanitarian assistance and protection to civilians caught up in Ethiopia’s spiralling conflict.
UN aid chief Martin Griffiths said he had released a total of $40 million aimed at scaling up emergency operations in the Tigray region and the rest of Ethiopia’s conflict-hit north, and as an early response to drought in the south of the country.
“Millions of people in northern Ethiopia are living on a knife-edge as the humanitarian crisis is growing deeper and wider,” said Griffiths, who just returned from a visit to Ethiopia.
“Across the country, needs are rising.” A year of fighting in Ethiopia between Tigrayan rebels and government forces has left hundreds of thousands in famine-like conditions.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent troops into Tigray last November to topple the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), a move he said came in response to rebel attacks on army camps. —AFP
