UN says Aid to Ethiopia's conflict-hit Tigray not enough

Aid being delivered to people displaced by the conflcit in northern Ethiopia. (AFP or licensors)

UNITED NATIONS -- The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said recent aid to Ethiopia's Tigray region is not enough, pledging further efforts to scale up deliveries of relief supplies.

A total of 169 trucks carrying about 4,300 metric tons of desperately needed aid supplies reached Ethiopia's Tigray region last month, which, however, remains a small fraction of what is needed, said the UN agency.

The latest convoy of 27 trucks carrying nearly 1,000 metric tons of food and other essential items reached Tigray's regional capital of Mekelle on April 29-30, it said.

It was the fourth humanitarian convoy reaching Tigray since the aid transport resumed at the beginning of April, following more than three months of interruption, said the agency, adding that essential services, including electricity, communications networks, and banking remain primarily cut off in the region.

The UN and its partners would continue to work with authorities to scale up deliveries of relief supplies into Tigray, including seed and fertilizer, ahead of the critical summer planting season, it said.