Ethiopia, UN sign agreement for rehabilitation of war-torn northern region

ADDIS ABABA, July 12 (Xinhua) -- The Ethiopian Ministry of Finance (MoF) announced Tuesday it has signed a third-party implementation agreement with the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) for the rehabilitation of infrastructure projects in the East African country's northern Tigray region.

The MoF said in a press statement that the agreement is part of the Ethiopian government's national recovery program financed by the World Bank (WB), which is titled Response-Recovery-Resilience for Conflict-Affected Communities in Ethiopia Project.

"Based on the agreement with UNOPS the agency will implement activities identified under rebuilding and improving access to basic services and climate-resilient community infrastructure," the MOF statement said.

The MoF also said under the agreement the UNOPS will implement activities of providing rapid response services to communities in Tigray in consultation with communities.

The UNOPS will also reconstruct basic service-providing infrastructures affected by the conflict in consultation with the communities, as well as support community-level social institutions in Tigray.

Last month, the World Bank and the MoF signed a 715 million U.S. dollars financial assistance agreement to help Ethiopian communities affected by conflict and drought.

Humanitarian aid is recently heading to the Tigray region after the Ethiopian government and the rebel Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) agreed to a conditional cessation of hostilities and unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid into the region.

The TPLF and the Ethiopian National Defense Force, backed by allied forces, have been engaged in a 20-month conflict that has reportedly left tens of thousands of people dead and millions of others in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.

The Ethiopian parliament designated the TPLF as a terrorist organization in May 2021.