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The head of the World Food Program said he had reached an agreement with Ethiopia to expand access for aid workers and “step up” operations in the conflict-stricken northern Tigray region.
David Beasley’s Twitter announcement on Saturday night comes as fears of a humanitarian disaster in Tigray grow, three months after fighting erupted between forces loyal to the regional ruling party and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government, 2019 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.
The government and WFP “have agreed on concrete steps to expand humanitarian access through #Tigray, and WFP will step up operations,” Beasley said on Twitter following a visit to Mekele , the capital of Tigray.
A statement from WFP – the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize winner – said Ethiopian officials had agreed to speed up consideration of requests from aid workers to travel to the region.
He also said that WFP had accepted government requests to provide emergency food aid to one million people in Tigray and help with transport to hard-to-reach rural areas.
Ethiopian Minister of Peace Muferihat Kamil said in a separate statement that the government “is acting urgently to approve requests for international movements of personnel to and within Tigray.”
Senior UN officials and international NGOs have repeatedly complained about restrictions on access to Tigray, where fighting persists despite Abiy’s declaration of victory at the end of November after federal forces entered the regional capital .
The new conditions come under “the existing agreement” between the government and the UN on aid, according to the WFP statement.
This agreement restricted UN access to areas under government control.
But a senior UN official told AFP that the progress was nonetheless “significant” and would facilitate deeper access to Tigray.
“It’s not enough to stick to safe routes, safe routes,” the official said.
“Our role is to be determined to get to where the last person in need is, and the presence of militias shouldn’t really hinder us.”
The WFP statement noted that “armed escorts for cargo and humanitarian personnel will be undertaken as a last resort.”
Tigray remains largely cut off from the media, making it difficult to assess the situation on the ground.
The UN official noted that “the areas of insecurity (are) were” numerous and important “.
‘No time to waste’
The government played down fears of widespread famine while touting its own efforts to meet the needs of a population of around six million.
He claims to have provided emergency food aid to 1.8 million people.
During a visit to Ethiopia last week, UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi stressed the need for a more efficient system to facilitate aid workers’ access and distribute aid.
“We heard from everywhere, including from local authorities, that more was needed” beyond what the government provides, said Grandi.
“The situation, as I said, is very serious, is very urgent. Without further action, the situation will worsen.”
In his Saturday Twitter post, Beasley said that “nearly 3 million people need our help NOW and we have no time to waste.”
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