US resumes food aid to refugees in Ethiopia

The US has announced it’s resuming delivery of food aid for refugees in Ethiopia after a five-month hiatus.

This comes after the authorities in Addis Ababa agreed to step away from distributing the supplies.

Washington suspended aid in May – following a similar move by the UN – saying it had found “widespread and coordinated” theft of food aid.

Reforms made by the Ethiopian government that led to the resumption of the aid include strengthening monitoring and oversight as well as increasing commodity tracking, a statement by USAid has said.

Additionally Ethiopia has “transferred responsibility” for dispatching and warehousing of food aid, It added.

Hundreds of thousands of refugees currently residing in Ethiopia – mostly from neighbouring countries like Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia and Eritrea – will benefit from the resumption of aid.

However food aid for around 20 million Ethiopians currently in desperate need of humanitarian support remains paused.

Officials in the war-scarred region of Tigray previously told the BBC that at least 1,400 people had starved to death in the region since the suspension of aid while in neighbouring Amhara where recent conflicts are compounded by drought, scores have died for lack of food aid.