A flight carrying UNICEF’s critical supplies has arrived Tigray. The first EU Humanitarian Air Bridge flight arrived in Tigray on September 11 with “critical supplies, such as ready-to-use therapeutic food for severely malnourished children,” according to UNICEF Ethiopia.
Two months ago, UNICEF said it “estimates that over 100,000 children in Tigray could suffer from life-threatening severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in the next 12 months – a tenfold increase compared to the average annual caseload.”
The flight was facilitated by the European Union’s Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid.
The EU Humanitarian Air Bridge operations started on 8 May 2020, with the first flight to the Central African Republic. According to the EU, “initially set up in response to the transport constraints created by the COVID-19 pandemic, the European Union Humanitarian Air Bridge flight operations are intended to help reinforce humanitarian or emergency responses in countries facing fragile contexts.”