United Nations, Sep 9 : The first humanitarian shipment of grain from Ukraine by the World Food Programme (WFP) has arrived in Ethiopia according to an UN spokesperson said.The WFP stated that the grain, supplied as part of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, that is facilitated by Turkey and the UN will provide a month of assistance to more than 1.5 million people affected due to drought or conflict, Stephane Dujarric, the chief spokesperson of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, said at the briefing here.
The grain is being removed in the main warehouse of WFP in the city of Adama and will be distributed in the coming weeks, Xinhua news agency quoted the spokesperson as saying.
Conflict and drought, as well as rising costs cause food insecurity in Ethiopia.There are 20 million people in need of food assistance in Ethiopia The WFP declared that stability in the supply chain is crucial to its mission according to the spokesperson.
“We’re being told by our humanitarian partners that the fighting in the northern part of the country is continuing to affect vulnerable populations and the distribution of assistance,” he said.
“In regions of Tigray, Amhara, and Afar regions in the Afar region, tens of thousands of people are being forced to flee due to violence and insecurity.”
He claimed there were no humanitarian convoys in Tigray for the past two weeks, which prevented the delivery of items, including more fertilizer for the coming planting season.
The twice weekly UN Humanitarian Air Service flights between Addis Ababa and Tigray’s capital city regional of Mekelle was also stopped.
In southern and eastern Ethiopia the drought is still ongoing, with more than 16 million people in need of aid to the needy.
In Ethiopia More than 8 million people affected by drought received aid for food this year he said.
