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IRA President @reda_getachew discussed with Swedish Ambassador to Ethiopia @HLundquist in his office this morning. During the discussion, the president briefed the delegation on the current affairs in Tigray. The president told the visitors that the situation in Tigray “has been dire “. “90 % of the population was depending on humanitarian aid but the suspension has made it worse, added the Interim President. He says his administration has been trying to placket the international community on the questions of diversion of food and related scandal. But Getachew slammed the international community for its sluggish decision to resume aid.
Despite earlier hopes for the rainy season that later didn’t happen as expected, the president stated the desert locust and tree locust have also played a significant role in exacerbating the situation in the region. Referring to the farmers in rural areas of Tigray, Getachew said, this situation [crop failure] was observed 60 years ago. This being the situation, the president noted, there hasn’t been significant resumption of aid. “Untimely rain has made it difficult to collect harvest.
As you know it Tigray’s economy is also devastated by the war”, said the president. How ever thankful to the USAID’s decision to resume aid he said it’s “in a very limited scale that covers only 20 % of the beneficiaries “. Getachew also said the distribution leaves so much to be desired. According to him, the situation has reached in very alarming emergency and people are already dying of starvation especially in the Eastern and southern parts of the region.
Getachew stated the level of suffering has also become even more concerning. He highlighted 5 million people in Tigray await humanitarian aid. “We have 1.1 million people living in IDP’s camps who are in a very dire situation having had no access to humanitarian aid for the last twelve months to be more specific.
The problem has become even more compounded and more alarming,” said the Interim President. He also said “the largest chunk of these category of the population” needs a critically important emergency intervention as people are dying of starvation in Tigray. President Getachew also thanked the delegation and the Swedish government for their “continued support to the people of Tigray”. Revealing his regret Getachew noted “We would have preferred every assistance to be geared towards development, recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction.
Unfortunately, we are stuck in a very dire humanitarian situation. We expect the resources to be used in that direction.” Tigray television has also been repeatedly reporting the death of people due to the ongoing starvation in Tigray.
