By Enyichukwu Enemanna
As Ethiopia battles the twin challenges of drought and internal conflicts that have left 20 million of the country’s 120 million people reliant on external support, World Food Programme, (WFP) a UN food relief agency, has expressed dissatisfaction over alleged theft of food aid from life-saving humanitarian operations in the country.
It has therefore, launched a probe into the diversion of food provided for the vulnerable, a letter obtained by The Associated Press has shown.
“WFP is very concerned about the large-scale sale of food in some markets” which “poses not only a reputational risk but also threatens our capacity to mobilize more resources for the needy people”, the World Food Programme’s Ethiopia director, Claude Jibidar, says in the letter.
He adds that it “is therefore imperative that immediate actions be taken to curb … the misappropriation and diversion of humanitarian food” in the country.
The letter, dated April, 5 is addressed to humanitarian partners of WFP in Ethiopia.
Jibidar asks the partner organizations to share “any information or cases of food misuse, misappropriation or diversion that you are aware of or that are brought to your attention by your staff, beneficiaries or local authorities.”
The letter does not mention any specific cases. However, two aid workers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the stolen aid included, enough food for 100,000 people and was recently discovered missing from a warehouse in Sheraro, a town badly affected by the conflict in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, AP report had stated.
It was not clear, who was responsible for stealing the aid from the Sheraro warehouse, which was previously looted by Eritrean soldiers allied to Ethiopia’s Federal Government in a separate incident.
One of the aid workers said it was supplied by USAID and due to be distributed by partners.
In an emailed statement, USAID said it, “has proactively identified recent diversion of some of our assistance in Northern Ethiopia.”
“We are in regular communication with our implementing partners regarding incidents of reported diversion and continue to monitor developments closely and take all necessary steps to stop the diversion,” the agency added.
