UN stops food aid to Tigray after thefts

UN stops food aid to Tigray after thefts

Published: Less than 10 min ago

full screen A worker stands by a pile of sacks of food from the United Nations to be delivered to Ethiopia. Archive image. Photo: AP-TT

The UN food program WFP has decided to stop shipments of food to the conflict-ravaged Tigray region in Ethiopia, four aid workers told the AP news agency.

WFP is responsible for delivering food from the UN and its partner organizations to Tigray, where a ceasefire last November ended a two-year civil war.

Over five million of the region’s total of six million inhabitants are in need of humanitarian aid.

According to one of the aid workers, the WFP informed its partners on April 20 that the deliveries would be paused following an alarm about the embezzlement of food. The information is confirmed by the other three sources, who all speak anonymously.

In April, WFP launched an investigation following reports of widespread food embezzlement in Ethiopia, where 20 million are in need of aid due to drought and conflict.

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