Following a unilateral truce declared by government last week, twenty trucks carrying food aid entered Ethiopia’s rebellious Tigrayan region on Friday, the United Nations said.
In what is seen as small but concrete demonstration by the government, most of the 5.5 million people in the northern province of Tigray who were food insecure can now access the food aid.
Although only 20 trucks a day is allowed at the moment, the region needs at least 100 trucks of aid per day to meet the population’s necessity. Trucks have been unable to enter Tigray since mid December due to a combination of bureaucratic problems and warring.
“Just arrived in Erepti and will soon cross into Tigray, bringing in over 500 metric tonnes of urgently needed WFP/partner food and nutrition supplies for communities on edge of starvation,” World Food Programme Ethiopia, a U.N. agency tweeted.
The convoy was expected to arrive in Tigray’s capital, Mekelle, “soon” the agency said, adding that another convoy with more than 1,000 metric tonnes of food would be sent to the neighbouring region of northern Afar on Friday afternoon to deliver “to communities in dire need”.
Erepti is one of six districts in Afar currently controlled by Tigrayan forces. Tigray’s government welcomed the development.
“The bottom line, though, isn’t about how many trucks are allowed but whether there is a system in place to ensure unfettered humanitarian access for the needy!” Getachew Reda, Tigray regional government’s spokesperson, said on Twitter.
An estimated 9 million people across the Tigray, Amhara and Afar regions need critical food assistance due to conflict. Many have been affected by malnutrition and food insecurity.
The U.N. Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a report on Thursday that food stocks in Tigray were “minimal” and as a result humanitarian workers had cut back or even halted their operations.
War broke out in the Tigray region in November 2020, pitting Ethiopia’s central government and its allies against rebellious Tigrayan forces loyal to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the political party that controls the Tigray region.