ETHIOPIA. Tigray: The United Nations reported that more than 90 percent of people in Ethiopia’s conflict-prone region, Tigray, need immediate food assistance. The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) said that it was alarmed to see how the conflict has increased levels of hunger in the region.
“A total of 5.2 million people, equivalent to 91 percent of Tigray’s population, need emergency food assistance due to the conflict,” WFP spokesman Tomson Phiri said.
Along with this, the organization has also appealed for $203 million to scale up its response.
Earlier, Ethiopian Prime Minister and Nobel Peace Laureate, Abiy Ahmed sent troops into Tigray to detain the leaders of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front in November. Ahmed had vowed that the conflict would be short-lived in the region. However, more than six months later, the fighting continues. Many leaders are also warning of a potential ‘humanitarian catastrophe’ in the region.
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Meanwhile, WFP has said that it had provided emergency aid to more than a million people in northwestern and southern regions of Tigray in March.
“WFP is alarmed at the impact of conflict on already high levels of hunger,” said Phiri.
“Ahead of the results of a new Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) study of levels of hunger across Tigray, WFP is highly concerned at the number of people we see in need of nutrition support and emergency food assistance and is doing all it can to reach 2.1 million people in need in the coming months,” WFP said.
“The WFP is calling for $203 million [166 million euros] to continue to scale up its response in Tigray to save lives and livelihoods through to the end of the year,” WFP added.
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