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News: Afar People’s Party lambasts lack of aid delivery, calls on regional political forces to convene ahead of national dialogue

Community members in Afar waiting for humanitarian assistance.
Picture: Afar State Communication Bureau

Addis Abeba – In a statement released yesterday, Afar People’s Party Executive Committee criticized shortage of the delivery of humanitarian assistance to IDPs and pointed out that aid was not being delivered timely. “Aid is not reaching hundreds of thousands of people while supplies, especially food items remain stocked in warehouses,” the party said.

The Party attributed the problem with delayed aid delivery to monopolization of the operation by the government for political consumption. “…we are receiving many complaints that the supports that are being made are not reaching the real victims beyond political image building,” the statement said, adding post-war reconstruction and rehabilitation projects should be undertaken by an independent institution.

Moreover, the party condemned the parties to the conflict for waging an aimless war without considering the aftermath of war. The statement recalled the party’s repeated calls for national dialogue long before the onset of war on November 3, 2020. “But the Afar people greatly suffered human and material losses in the war,” the statement reads.

The party further said that the war with Tigrayan forces is still ongoing in northern parts of the region, adding the post war damage in the region was significantly greater than the level claimed by the regional government. It demanded the redoing of an investigation by experts as well as transparency in the amount of donation and the dispatches to the region. The statement also discussed the security situation in Yagundi Karoma Gewane route as well as Kelbeti Rasu areas.

To this Afar People’s Party called on regional political forces including the ruling party to convene and identify the core issues of the region prior to the planned national dialogue. “We believe there are shared agendas we need to address with our Ethiopian brothers and sisters. But there are some issues that are specific to Afaris and should be brought to the national dialogue.” It also urged the federal government to refrain from interfering in the process and to make sure that the dialogue took place in the spirit of give and take. It also cautioned that the dialogue should not be a facade meant to withstand pressure from the international community. AS/Dispatch

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