US State Dept spokesman Ned Price @StateDeptSpox briefed yesterday on the WFP suspension of aid in Dessie, and new travel plans for Feltman to visit UAE & Turkey to discourage them from supporting Ethiopia and also Egypt. state.gov/briefings/depa… (Timestamp 39:20 in the video). 
Just as with the UN briefing on the this development yesterday, State's briefing makes little sense, and instead repeats the usual mantras, "no military solution", "need to resume aid delivery to Tigray" etc.
And no acknowledgement, as usual, of TPLF crimes committed in Amhara.
And no acknowledgement, as usual, of TPLF crimes committed in Amhara.
The central development in this latest UN/US response to the Ethiopia Crisis is the suspension of WFP aid activities in Amhara, due to causes unknown. Seemingly justified - from UN Statement - on the "commandeering of UN trucks by the military".
"We strongly condemn.. incidents and reiterate calls to all parties to the conflict to respect and protect humanitarian relief ... It is prohibited to attack, destroy, misappropriate or loot relief supplies, installations, materials, units or vehicles." - UN SPOX @StephDujarric
This final paragraph from the UN readout is striking in that it is - to my recollection - the first statement of this kind delivered about the looking of relief supplies and trucks in Ethiopia.
This after months of TPLF systematic looting of aid, civilian and govt buildings and aid warehouses by the TPLF, and the diversion of 100s of UN trucks to the TPLF's war effort - all of which is well reported - but yet has never so far as I am aware been acknowledged by the UN.
And now - as TPLF appears to be finally on the threshold of being defeated - WFP is suspending its aid activities in Dessie which has only been liberated (and therefore open for unrestricted aid operations) for a couple of days.
The US and UN explanations for all of this hold no water. They do not make sense. And they reek of ongoing US and UN partiality towards an armed TPLF force which it is has engaged in a reign of terror in Amhara of killings, rape, and looting.
The U.S. now appears to be keen to further help the TPLF by undermining the Ethiopian Govt's relationship with its allies, Turkey and UAE, while the UN appears to be prepared to ignore the needs of Amhara for aid assistance following occupation in favour of Tigray.
The UN Briefing Transcript & single question asked is here >> un.org/press/en/2021/…
This question, about the increase in the number of people estimated to be affected, relates to numbers released by the OCHA and WFP in a UN briefing in Geneva held on 26th November - more than a fortnight ago.
Here are the briefing notes on data about Northern Ethiopian Humanitarian needs assessment from that meeting.
Highlighted information below shows the WFP's crisis & needs assessment indicates significantly higher needs exist in Afar and Amhara than in Tigray.
Highlighted information below shows the WFP's crisis & needs assessment indicates significantly higher needs exist in Afar and Amhara than in Tigray.
Which is far from surprising as that is where the war has been fought for the past five months.
This makes the decision yesterday by the UN WFP to suspend aid deliveries in Dessie - where the greatest concentration of IDPs is located - all the more inexplicable.
This makes the decision yesterday by the UN WFP to suspend aid deliveries in Dessie - where the greatest concentration of IDPs is located - all the more inexplicable.
/ENDS
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