The Government Continues to Expedite the Provision of Humanitarian Assistance and the Resumption of Essential Services in Northern Ethiopia

The Government Continues to Expedite the Provision of Humanitarian Assistance and the Resumption of Essential Services in Northern Ethiopia

The Government Continues to Expedite the Provision of Humanitarian Assistance and the Resumption of Essential Services in Northern Ethiopia

The Government Continues to Expedite the Provision of Humanitarian Assistance and the Resumption of Essential Services in Northern Ethiopia

As part of implementing the Pretoria Peace Deal, the Government of Ethiopia continues to expedite the delivery of humanitarian assistance and resumption of essential services in Tigray, Amhara and Afar regions.

The Ethiopian Electric Utility disclosed that 80 cities and towns in the northern part of the country had regained service as part of a significant effort to restore electricity to the Tigray, Amhara and Afar regions that were cut off due to the conflict. Maintenance works are also well underway to reconnect the remaining 27 towns in Northern Ethiopia. In the wake of the peace agreement, technicians have been deployed to conflict-affected areas, and damaged facilities have been re-equipped with the necessary spare parts.

Ethio Telecom on its part announced that telecom services resumed in 27 towns of the Tigray region and managed to carryout maintenance of more than 1,800 km of fibre optics line. Similarly, banking services have resumed in most towns of the region and Ethiopian Airlines resumed flights to and from Mekelle, the region’s capital.

The government has also continued to expedite the delivery of humanitarian assistance to the region via four corridors through Afar and Amhara regions. Airlifts of nutrition and health supplies have also been delivered, along with regular humanitarian passenger flights to scale up the response. The government along with humanitarian partners have managed to transport 2,740 trucks or more than 101,700 metric tons (MT) of food and 309 trucks or 10,840 MT of non-food supplies, including health, shelter, education, protection, and water, sanitation, and hygiene supplies between mid-November and end of December. Moreover, 960 billion Ethiopian Birr of cash have been airlifted to Mekelle and Shire since mid-November for humanitarian operations and staffing costs, and 21 trucks of fuel or 830, 000 litres have been transported to the region.

Indeed, the Government of Ethiopia has been consistent in delivering on its commitment to fully implement the peace agreement. This has been underscored in a statement issued by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, following the Pretoria peace deal, in which he said, “The agreement signed today in South Africa is monumental in moving Ethiopia forward on the path of the reforms we embarked upon four and a half years ago. Our commitment to peace remains steadfast. And our commitment to collaborating for the implementation of the agreement is equally strong.”

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Embassy of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, London, UK.