UN-Ethiopia Agreement Allows Unimpeded Relief Access To Tigray - Spokesman

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd December, 2020) The Ethiopia government and United Nations officials based in the country agreed to open the province of Tigray to relief supplies for refugees displaced by the recent fighting, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters on Wednesday.

"The UN staff in the country and the Federal government of Ethiopia have signed an agreement that seeks to enable unimpeded, sustained and secure access for humanitarian personnel and services in areas under the control of the federal government in Tigray and the bordering areas," Dujarric said.

A month of fighting has forced at least 1 million people to flee their homes, many to areas bordering the province and others into neighboring Sudan, according to media reports.

That would be in addition to a 600,000 people who depended on outside aid before conflict erupted in November, according to UN estimates.

On Wednesday, UN teams prepared for aid shipments with assessment and response missions in areas bordering Tigray, Dujarric added.

Hostilities erupted in northern Ethiopia last month when the central government accused the Tigray region's political forces of attacking a military base in the region. The conflict pits Tigray's People's Liberation Front (TPLF), a political party that dominated the nation's politics for decades, against a government led by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who came to power in 2019.