Humanitarian catastrophe in northern Ethiopia gets help

Humanitarian catastrophe in northern Ethiopia gets help from the UK government. The UK is set to provide nearly £30 million in aid.

Vicky Ford, the Minister for Africa, has announced that the UK is set to provide an additional £29 million of humanitarian aid. The Aid will go to people hit by the catastrophic conflict in northern Ethiopia.

Ford has called on parties in Ethiopia to ensure that the humanitarian aid makes it through to the people who need it. Aid is being blocked by the Ethiopian government. It is not reaching the people in the Tigray region. Around 500 trucks of aid are needed each week. Only a small percentage of these are making it through.

According to the UK government: “The conflict has caused a humanitarian catastrophe, with the UN estimating that 5.5 million people face acute food insecurity. Over 400,000 people in northern Ethiopia are experiencing famine-like conditions – more than in all of the humanitarian crises in the rest of the world combined.”

Vicky Ford, commented: “The Ethiopian people are facing a humanitarian catastrophe and are in urgent need of support.

“This pledge will provide vital food, water and healthcare to the hundreds of thousands of people facing famine in northern Ethiopia.

“This is a man-made crisis. I urge all parties to urgently agree a ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid to reach starving people.”

Special Envoy Nick Dyer recently visited Ethiopia. He said: “On my third visit to Ethiopia since the start of the Tigray conflict, I saw a further deterioration of the crisis and the conditions for humanitarian operations.

“We are pleased to provide more funding but humanitarian agencies need access into all areas where people are in need now, so that lives can be saved and catastrophic famine avoided.

“The conflict in northern Ethiopia has spread beyond the borders of Tigray now, so we are expanding UK funding to reach those in urgent need in Afar and Amhara.”

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