Ethiopia establishes emergency coordination centre to address humanitarian needs of 2.5 million people

Ethiopia has established an emergency centre in northern Tigray regional state to address the humanitarian needs of 2.5 million people, an Ethiopian official said on Thursday.

Mitiku Kassa, Commissioner at Ethiopia National Disaster Risk Management Commission (NDRMC), said the centre in the regional capital Mekelle will have personnel from Ethiopia government ministries, Tigray interim administration bureaus, United Nations agencies, bilateral partners and International non-governmental organizations to help it effectively coordinate humanitarian aid supplies in Tigray region.

Kassa also said the NDRMC plans to establish incident command posts in two other Tigray regional cities, Shire-Indaselassie and Adigrat, to ensure the proper use of humanitarian aid.

Months of fighting in northern Ethiopia's Tigray between the Tigray People's Liberation Front, which used to rule the Tigray regional state until last November, and the Ethiopian National Defense Forces has reportedly left thousands of people dead, hundreds of thousands displaced, and millions in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.