On November 15, 2022, a convoy of vehicles from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) delivered life-saving medical aid to Mekelle in the Tigray area of Ethiopia.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) drove two medical trucks to the conflict-torn territory on Tuesday, marking the first international relief delivery since a ceasefire to end violence.
On November 2, the Tigrayan forces and the government of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed signed a cease-fire, putting an end to two years of conflict.
Unrestricted access for relief to a people struggling with sickness and famine is part of implementation.
“It is an enormous relief for us to deliver this cargo,” Nicolas Von Arx, head of the ICRC delegation in Ethiopia, said in a statement. “The healthcare system in the region is under extreme pressure and these deliveries are a lifeline for people who need medical help.”
The delivery into Mekelle, the regional capital, was the first international aid into Tigray since the previous ceasefire was broken in August, according to the ICRC. The government of Ethiopia has also started distributing some aid.
The 5.5 million residents of the region are severely food insecure. Aid organisations claim that unless they can enter places for the first time in months, they won’t know the actual scope of the needs.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed had told the country’s parliament that the ceasefire agreement signed by the federal government and Tigrayan leaders will be implemented.
Abiy went on to say that now was not the time to address the issue of western Tigray, which had been occupied by forces from the neighbouring Amhara region at the start of the war in 2020.
The African Union brokered the truce, which was signed on November 2, 2022. Despite the agreement, humanitarian supplies had not arrived in Tigray until today, prompting the World Health Organisation’s chief, Tedros Adhanom, to call for aid to be delivered as soon as possible.