WFP resumes food distribution to refugees in Ethiopia

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - The U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) has resumed distribution of food to roughly 900,000 refugees across Ethiopia after revamping safeguards and controls, following reports of large-scale theft of its donations, it said in a statement. The WFP suspended food distributions in all of Ethiopia in June, a day after the United States announced it was doing the same because of diversions of aid. Ethiopia hosts a further 850,000 refugees mostly from Somalia, South Sudan and Eritrea. WFP said there had been major reforms at all refugee camps in Ethiopia, with all 24 warehouses in camps now exclusively managed by the WFP. More non-governmental organizations have been trained to manage food distributions, and new collection procedures will ensure refugees get the right entitlements.