Hawassa, 10 December, 2023 / 9:05 pm (ACI Africa).
Trócaire, the overseas development agency of the Catholic Bishops of Ireland, is facilitating the provision of food and “psycho-social support” to victims of war in Ethiopia, more than a year since the peace agreement to end the two-year violent conflict in the country’s Tigray region was signed.
In a Monday, December 4 report, Trócaire officials say even after the November 2022 peace agreement, internally displaced persons (IDPs), including children are yet to return to their respective homes.
As part of the support program, the personnel of the Irish Catholic entity are reaching out to families in Mekelle camp, one of the IDP camps in the country, with “food supplies such as oil, flour and lentils as well as hygiene products.”
“Families are also provided with psycho-social support to help them cope with the trauma of the war and conflict,” Trócaire officials say, and add, “Children under the age of five are receiving supplementary feeding to combat child malnutrition.”
According to the report, “More than 85 percent of schools in Tigray have serious or partial damage due to the conflict, and all public schools remain closed. Across Ethiopia, more than 3.5 million children are out of school – 1 in every 16 children.”
