UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th November, 2020) The United Nations is seeking $75 million to assist nearly two million people in Ethiopia affected by the ongoing conflict in the Tigray region until January 2021, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a press briefing on Thursday.
"Humanitarian Preparedness Plan targeting nearly two million people has been finalized. The plan seeks $75 million to help people affected by the conflict in Tigray, Afar and Amhara regions of Ethiopia until January 2021," Dujarric said.
He noted that in addition to the conflict, there are many humanitarian concerns throughout the country, including displacement, desert locusts, food insecurity and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dujarric also emphasized the UN's grave concern about the well-being of civilians trapped in the conflict zone, where communication and humanitarian access are extensively limited.
In addition, the spokesman said, more than 31,000 people have already crossed into neighboring Sudan fleeing the ongoing clashes in Tigray.
The fighting in the north of Ethiopia broke out in early November after the Federal government accused the Tigray People's Liberation Front, the ruling party in the region, of attacking a local military base and launched a security operation against it. The ensuing clashes prompted international fears of a new civil war in Ethiopia and the conflict's spillover into neighboring countries.
