This tragic situation has been exacerbated by the curtailment of humanitarian activities in the area, due to fuel shortages and renewed fighting, which limits the possibilities of aid delivery.
Earlier on Friday, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) announced that international humanitarian NGOs had exhausted their stockpile of fuel, forcing them to “walk the few remaining humanitarian supplies and services.”
According to the latest WFP Nutrition Situation Assessment, 83 percent of the population of Tigray is food insecure, and “13 percent of children under five and half of pregnant and lactating women are malnourished.”
“Families are exhausting all means to feed themselves, and three-quarters of the population are resorting to harsh coping strategies to survive. (…) Food systems are getting poorer as food supplies run out and families rely almost exclusively on grain, Limit portions and the number of meals they eat each day.
The World Food Program has warned of the deteriorating food situation in the neighboring regions of Amhara and Afar, which have been badly affected by the fighting in recent months.
“The World Food Program is doing everything in its power to make it easier for convoys of food and medicine to cross the battle lines,” Michael Dunford, WFP’s regional director for East Africa, said in the statement. “But if fighting continues, it is essential that all parties to the conflict agree to a humanitarian pause and transport corridors to reach the border. supplies to the millions of people trapped by starvation.
Fighting broke out in November 2020 in northern Ethiopia after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent troops to oust the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, the former ruling party in Tigray that he accused of orchestrating attacks on army bases.