Germany has extended €8.5 million as emergency assistance to save lives in war-torn Tigray region of Ethiopia.
Germany’s donation will contribute to WFP’s Tigray emergency response that aims to reach up to 2.1 million people with urgently needed food and nutrition assistance, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), through which the assistance was extended, announced Tuesday.
A total of 5.2 million people or 91 percent of Tigray’s entire population need emergency food assistance due to conflict, WFP has said in a statement.
The donation will also support WFP’s refugee response in the country and help to deliver life-saving and life-changing emergency food assistance to communities in Ethiopia’s Somali region who are affected by extreme climate shocks.
“WFP welcomes this timely and generous contribution from the people of Germany to enable us to respond to the most urgent humanitarian needs across the country,” said WFP Ethiopia’s Representative and Country Director Dr. Steven Were Omamo.
Germany’s donation comes at a critical time as WFP faces a funding shortfall. WFP currently requires US$203 million to maintain operations in Tigray Region until the end of the year, and an additional US$97 million is needed to cover relief food operations in the Somali region during the next six months, WFP said in a statement.
MG/abj/APA