Metro

Week after ‘unilateral truce’, Ethiopia’s Tigray region receives UN food aids

Published

2 years ago

April 2, 2022

Following the declaration of a unilateral truce by the Ethiopian government last week, a convoy of trucks carrying food aid has entered territory controlled by fighters loyal to the fugitive leaders of Ethiopia’s Tigray region on Friday.

The truck is the first humanitarian convoy to move into the Tigray region since Dec. 14, the United Nations World Food Programme said.

The U.N. estimates that 90% of Tigray’s 6 million people are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. It says 100 trucks must enter every day to feed people there.

“WFP-led convoys to Tigray are back on the road & making steady progress,” the agency said on Twitter. It added that the trucks “arrived in Erepti” carrying over 500 metric tons of food supplies “for communities on edge of starvation.” The UN World Food Programme concludes.

The Tigray Region is the northernmost regional state of Ethiopia. The Region is the homeland of the Tigrayan, Irob, and Kunama people. Formerly known as Region 1, its capital and largest city are Mekelle. Tigray is the fifth-largest by area, the fifth-most populous, and the fifth-most densely populated of the 11 regional states in Ethiopia. 96 percent of Tigrayans are Orthodox Christian.

Erepti is a district in the neighboring state of Afar, into which the war has spilled in recent months. Fighters loyal to the outlawed party of Tigray’s leaders — the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, or TPLF — are present in six districts in Afar, having entered the region in December.

The spokesperson of the TPLF, Getachew Reda, confirmed on Twitter that 20 WFP trucks had crossed into territory controlled by their fighters and are now on their way to Mekele, the Tigray capital. The Tigray fighters had said they would observe the humanitarian truce declared by the government if aid started to reach Tigray.

20 WFP trucks have made it to our line of control& on their way to Mekelle. This is one good step in the right direction; the bottom line, though,isn’t about how many trucks are allowed but whether there is a system in place to ensure unfettered humanitarian access for the needy!

— Getachew K Reda (@reda_getachew) April 1, 2022

“This is one good step in the right direction,” Getachew added. “The bottom line, though, isn’t about how many trucks are allowed but whether there is a system in place to ensure unfettered humanitarian access for the needy!”

Metro

‘Cyber Act fails to protect the vulnerable,’ Student demands media inclusivity for persons with disabilities

Published

3 hours ago

April 26, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

Peter Libila, a student at Icof University’s Chipata campus, highlights the lack of awareness among individuals with disabilities and those residing in rural areas about their digital rights, resulting in limited access to media platforms for free expression.

Libila underscored the marginalization of people with disabilities in discussions on community development, leading to their exclusion from voicing their perspectives.

In an interview with Zambia Monitor in Eastern Province, Libila discussed the discrimination and stigma faced by individuals with disabilities in the media landscape.

Read More: Differently-abled person speaks on challenges impacting freedom of expression in rural areas

“Persons with disabilities are often overlooked when it comes to community developments,” he emphasized.

Moreover, as someone with a physical disability, Libala pointed out shortcomings in the Cybersecurity Act which failed to adequately address online barriers to freedom of expression.

“The act fails to ensure online safety for all; it only offers protection to certain groups while neglecting others,” he asserted.

He stressed the importance of bridging these gaps to foster inclusivity within the media.

“There’s a lack of sign language interpreters in most media outlets, which poses challenges for the deaf community,” he observed.

Libila also emphasized the necessity of providing braille reading materials and writing tools for individuals who are blind.

“Even basic resources like braille books are often unavailable for the blind,” he lamented.

This story is sponsored content from Zambia Monitor’s Project Aliyense.

Metro

All my tough policy decisions are in Nigerians’ interest— Tinubu

Published

7 hours ago

April 26, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

President Bola Tinubu of Nigeria has insisted that all his tough policy decisions and reforms have been taken with the interest of Nigerians at heart.

Tinubu, who made the assertion in Hague, The Netherlands, during the business session of the bilateral meeting with the Dutch team led by Prime Minister Mark Rutte, insisted that though some of the policies had brought hardship on Nigerian masses, he was not afraid to implement more of such policies as they would yield positive results in the end.

“I am a determined leader of my people. I am ever ready to take tough decisions in the best interest of the people, even if with initial pains,” Tinubu said.

“I have and will continue to take the difficult decisions that will benefit our people, even if there is short-term pain.

“We have gone through the worst of the storms. I am unafraid of the consequences once I know that my actions are in the best long-term interests of all Nigerians.

“The Nigerian naira is one of the world’s best-performing currencies today.

“We took the necessary risk, and all resilient Nigerians kept faith with us.

“They will be rewarded, and the reward will only be greater as we partner effectively with you on new opportunities for development.

“As leaders, we must make decisions for the benefit of our nations, and we cannot shy away from that.”

The President also noted that symbiotic economic ties remain the best long-term path to sustainable and mutual prosperity rather than one-sided relationships in which bilateral trade is skewed too much in one direction.