The World Food Programme announced yesterday that it has started to resume food aid for an estimated 900,000 refugees in Ethiopia after pausing delivery in June due to widespread fraud and diversion. Refugees from Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea, and South Sudan will now receive cereals, pulses, vegetable oil, and salt.
As you’ll recall, WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain told me over the summer that the agency wouldn’t be resuming aid until it could “be absolutely sure, as much as we can in a country like Ethiopia, that it’s going to where it’s supposed to go.” She said the agency was examining all of its internal processes and developing additional safeguards to ensure WFP remains “in charge” of where goods and cash transfers are sent.
Those safeguards for refugees include WFP exclusively managing the 24 camp warehouses and digitally enrolling refugees through a UNHCR tracking tool. “New and detailed” food collection procedures will ensure that refugees are receiving what they are entitled to each time, and additional organizations have been trained by WFP to manage the distribution.
About the author
Teresa Welshtmawelsh
Teresa Welsh is a Senior Reporter at Devex. She has reported from more than 10 countries and is currently based in Washington, D.C. Her coverage focuses on Latin America; U.S. foreign assistance policy; fragile states; food systems and nutrition; and refugees and migration. Prior to joining Devex, Teresa worked at McClatchy's Washington Bureau and covered foreign affairs for U.S. News and World Report. She was a reporter in Colombia, where she previously lived teaching English. Teresa earned bachelor of arts degrees in journalism and Latin American studies from the University of Wisconsin.
