Reacting to the ongoing access challenges into Ethiopia’s Tigray region, Norwegian Refugee Council’s Secretary General, Jan Egeland, said:
“Last week, the Ethiopian government agreed a deal with the United Nations that would allow the delivery of critical aid to millions of people, including refugees in Tigray. This week, NRC is deeply concerned to find that humanitarian access to the region is still significantly constrained. Children, women and men in Tigray have now borne the brunt of this conflict for more than a month without any emergency assistance from outside the region.”
“These people can no longer be made to wait. Aid must not be left at a standstill. We have been standing ready to deliver food, emergency shelter and other essential materials for weeks, and we expected this deal to clear the way. We strongly urge all authorities in Ethiopia, as well our UN partners, to avoid any further lags and urgently permit humanitarian deliveries, so that we can get help to people who urgently need it.”