More than seven million people living in parts of the Amhara region that were under the control of Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) forces need urgent food assistance, disclosed the Amhara Region Disaster Prevention and Food Security Commission.
Impacted by the year-old conflict, the people live in North Wollo, South Wollo, North Gondar and Waghimira areas, the commission said. “They are in a dire condition due to the lack of food and medicine,” said Zelalem Lijalem, head of the Commission.
For the last five months, the Commissioner underscored, federal and regional authorities were unable to provide life-saving assistance for the victims of the war.
Regional and federal authorities blamed international organizations for paying no attention to the humanitarian crisis in war-affected areas of Amhara Region.
“Though they have been notified of the scale of the problem, no international aid agency moved to the areas to extend a helping hand,” Zelalem added.
On November 26, 2021, WFP reported that the number of people across northern Ethiopia that are left in need of humanitarian food assistance by the conflict reached 9.4 million. An estimated USD 622 million in funding has been secured for the Humanitarian Response Plan for Northern Ethiopia by the UN OCHA. Yet with the war yet to be over, there is a growing need of food assistance.
“The problem is very complex and we need help to overcome it,” said Zelalem. He added that the regaining of many areas by the national army would help reach more people requiring assistance.
There are more than 2.1 million displaced people in the region, according to Zelalem.
Recently, authorities of the Amhara region announced that it would take over 30 years to rebuild war-affected areas in the region. The Ministry of Agriculture also estimated that half a billion dollars is required to reinstate basic services in the Amhara region.
