Enough humanitarian aid to fill more than 1,000 trucks have reached an area in Ethiopia that has been in desperate need of assistance for several months, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) announced June 7.
The DOS states the U.S. "welcomes" the progress made in getting aid to the Afar, Amhara, and Tigray regions of Ethiopia and credits cooperation between the Ethiopian government and regional authorities for getting shipments delivered.
"In the past seven days, more than 1,100 trucks have reached Tigray to deliver life-saving food, malnutrition treatment and health supplies," the DOS reports in the announcement, "and other essential relief items to those who are most vulnerable, as a result of the hard work of all the humanitarians committed to saving lives."
In early 2021, war erupted between government and Tigrayan forces, resulting in a humanitarian crisis affecting and displacing millions of people. The conflict compromised routes into and within Ethiopia and especially along the border of Tigray ad Afar, closing roads from the south, east and west, essentially isolating the Tigray region, BBC News reports. Both the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front blame the other for the lack of access, BBC News reports.
A truce between the warring factions in March has re-opened access and allowed humanitarian aid to arrive in the region; however, the underlying conflict has yet to be resolved. The DOS states the U.S. "encourages the parties to continue to build on this momentum" to now find a viable conclusion to the war.
"We also call for the immediate restoration of essential services in conflict-affected areas and support an inclusive political process to provide security and prosperity for all Ethiopians," the DOS states, "and accountability for human rights violations committed by all parties."
