NAIROBI: The World Food Programme has started distributing food aid in Ethiopia's war-scarred Tigray region, in a test for new monitoring measures after halting assistance over the diversion of supplies, the United Nations agency said on Tuesday (Aug 8). WFP and US aid agency USAID halted food aid to Africa's second most populous country in June after discovering that supplies were not reaching those in need, raising fears that the decision would leave millions of Ethiopians in desperate straits. "On Jul 31, the World Food Programme started testing and verifying enhanced controls and measures for delivering food assistance in four districts of Tigray," it said in a message to AFP. "We are committed to resuming food assistance as quickly as possible once we can be confident our assistance is reaching the most vulnerable that it is intended for." Prior to the nationwide suspension, WFP and USAID said in May that they would freeze food aid to Tigray after discovering that shipments were being diverted to local markets.

Source: Ethiopian News August 08, 2023 16:47 UTC