UN and Ethiopia sign 'breakthrough' deal for aid access to Tigray

In a breakthrough a month after a deadly conflict cut off Ethiopia’s Tigray region from the world, the United Nations on Wednesday said it and the Ethiopian government have signed a deal to allow "unimpeded" humanitarian access, at least for areas under federal government control after the prime minister’s declaration of victory over the weekend.

Confirming details of the deal at UN Headquarters in New York, Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said that all aid distribution would be carried out "in compliance with the globally-agreed principles of humanity, impartiality, independence and neutrality."

"We've been told by our humanitarian colleagues that the UN 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 the areas under the control of the Federal Government in Tigray and the bordering areas of Amhara and Afar regions," revealed Stephane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General. 

Read more: The geopolitical shadow of Ethiopia's Tigray conflict

This will allow the first food, medicines and other aid into the region of 6 million people that has seen rising hunger during the fighting between the federal and Tigray regional governments.

Each regards the other as illegal in a power struggle that has been months in the making.

For weeks, aid-laden trucks have been blocked at Tigray’s borders, and the UN and other humanitarian groups were increasingly anxious to reach Tigray as hunger grows and hospitals run out of basic supplies like gloves and body bags.

"Today, an assessment and response mission is taking place in Afar in areas bordering Tigray to reach people have been internal displaced by the ongoing conflict," Dujarric added.

More than 1 million people in Tigray are now thought to be displaced, including over 45,000 who have fled into a remote area of neighboring Sudan.

Humanitarians have struggled to feed them as they set up a crisis response from scratch.