The US government has suspended food aid to Ethiopia due to the massive diversion of that aid, USAID, the US international aid agency, announced on Thursday.
“Following a national assessment, USAID, in coordination with the Ethiopian government, has uncovered a widespread and coordinated operation to deprive the people of Ethiopia of food aid,” an Ethiopian government spokesman said. USAID in a message sent to AFP.
“Therefore we (…) cannot provide any further food aid until we are sure that reforms have been implemented,” he continues.
USAID “intends to resume food aid immediately once we have confidence in the integrity of the distribution systems to get the aid to its intended recipients,” he said.
The American organization had already decided in May, at the same time as the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), to suspend food aid for the Ethiopian region of Tigray, which had just emerged from a two-year conflict in November, due to the diversion of part of this aid “to the local market sold”.
About 20 million people, or 16% of Ethiopia’s 120 million population, are in need of food aid, the United Nations Humanitarian Agency (Ocha) estimated in late May.
On Thursday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Ethiopian Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen on the sidelines of a diplomatic meeting in Riyadh and “welcomed the Ethiopian government’s commitment to jointly conduct a full investigation into the diversion of US food aid and identify those responsible.” be held accountable,” the US Embassy in Addis Ababa said.
The United States is the largest bilateral donor to Ethiopia, having provided more than $1.8 billion in lifesaving assistance since FY2022, according to USAID.