ADDIS ABABA: USAID halted food aid to Ethiopia Thursday, citing “a widespread and coordinated campaign” to divert donated supplies from the needy. “We made the difficult but necessary decision that we cannot move forward with distribution of food assistance until reforms are in place,” said the US government’s main international aid agency. “Our intention is to immediately resume food assistance once we are confident in the integrity of delivery systems to get assistance to its intended recipients,” the statement added. It comes on the heels of an announcement by USAID and the World Food Programme (WPF) last month to freeze food aid to Tigray after the agencies discovered that shipments were being diverted to local markets. Famine warningsBlinken “welcomed the Ethiopian government’s commitment to work together to conduct a full investigation into the diversion of US food assistance and to hold accountable those found responsible,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Thursday.

Source: Ethiopian News June 08, 2023 15:36 UTC