UN to resume aid deliveries in Tigray, north of Ethiopia

NEW YORK - The United Nations reiterates that it is hopeful humanitarian deliveries in the Tigray region will resume in days just after the agreement between warring sides in Ethiopia, but there are concerns some regions may not be reached due to prevailing conditions.

Last week, the Tigray People's Liberation Front [TPLF] and the Ethiopian government reached a truce in South Africa, following peace talks that were brokered by African Union. The parties agreed on "permanent cessation of hostilities" in a war that entered the fourth year.

The United Nations says it has effectively been blocked from sending in aid since violence erupted anew in August, ending a previous ceasefire. The federal government has repeatedly denied blocking aid, Reuters reported.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs [OCHA] in Ethiopia has been negotiating with the warring factions to allow the resumption of humanitarian aid in the country, where thousands of people have been killed and millions displaced.

"So far we are getting feedback and good assurances but we are still waiting for the final go-ahead," Saad told Reuters during a telephone interview.

"We are making progress, some small steps but in the right direction," he said. "I’m hopeful it's going to be days." U.N. agencies had been gathering supplies and Saad said they needed 24-48 hours to get aid moving once they got the green light.

Ethiopian government spokesperson Legesse Tulu and Getachew Reda, a spokesman for the Tigray authorities, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In an Oct. 24 statement, the federal government communication service said it was coordinating with humanitarian agencies "to continue providing humanitarian aid" in urban areas where it had recently taken control.

The agencies have started distributing food to some of the accessible areas within Tigray, with the first being Mekelle, the regional administrative capital of the Tigray region. Initially, most parts of the region were cut off from the rest of Ethiopia with the Ethiopian army and their Eritrean counterparts reigning terror.

Banking services, telecommunication infrastructure, and other social amenities are set to be restored following the peace truce in South Africa. The African Union, IGAD, European Union, and the US were instrumental in the peace deal which came exactly after two years of unrest and mass murder.

GAROWE ONLINE