US provides $152 mln in additional aid towards Tigray crisis
The United Nations has warned that there could be a risk of famine in Tigray.
JOHANNESBURG, April 9 (ANA) – The United States Agency for International Development is providing more than $152 million in additional humanitarian assistance to address the crisis in Ethiopia’s Tigray region.
Fighting began in the region last November between forces loyal to regional power brokers and former national ruling party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front and forces of the current national government.
In a statement dated Thursday, USAID said the situation in Tigray remained dire, with approximately 4.5 million people in need of assistance. The United Nations has warned that there could be a risk of famine.
“This new funding will address life-threatening hunger and acute malnutrition, as well as provide safe drinking water, urgently needed medical and health support, and shelter for some of the estimated one million people who have fled their homes,” USAID said.
The agency will also provide safe spaces and psychosocial support for women and girls, case management for survivors of gender-based violence, training for social workers and community case workers and programmes to reunite children separated from their families.
The US is the largest donor of humanitarian assistance in Ethiopia and the latest aid brings its total support for Tigray’s beleaguered people to nearly $305 million.
“The United States remains deeply concerned about the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Tigray and the lack of sufficient humanitarian funding to address it,” USAID said.
“Large-scale assistance is urgently needed to prevent conditions in Tigray from worsening.”
It cautioned that while US humanitarian assistance would help alleviate urgent needs, it would not address the root causes of the ongoing conflict and human rights violations in Ethiopia.
– African News Agency (ANA), Editing by Stella Mapenzauswa
