Posted on 11 May 2023
The World Food Programme and USAID have both “until further notice” suspended their food aid deliveries in the Northern Ethiopia region of Tigray. This comes after it was revealed there had been large scale theft of the resources, which was also being sold at local markets.
Samantha Power, administrator of USAID, spoke to the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, saying they think “parties on both side of the conflict” worked to steal the food aid through a “criminal network” following the ceasefire in November. The agency “stands ready to restart paused food assistance only when strong oversight measures are in place and we are confident that assistance will reach the intended vulnerable populations,” she said.
There is currently a food insecurity emergency in Ethiopia, with the scale and severity of the issue making it one of the worst globally as the country goes into its second year of record high needs.