Recommendation 38

Improved access has allowed agencies to scale up their response. World Vision had 82 staff in Tigray before and during the conflict but are in the process of hiring hundreds more. Their total spend in Tigray last year was about $3.9 million and is expected to be over $25 million this year.92 On 7 April, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi recognised that humanitarian operations were scaling up as access widened but he stressed efforts needed to be accelerated to cope with the large numbers of displaced people arriving in urban areas.93 83 Ethiopia: situation in Tigray, Briefing Paper Number 09147, House of Commons Library, 25 February 2021, p.4 84 UNHCR, Remarks by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi at the press conference in Addis Ababa., 1 February 2021; Ethiopia: situation in Tigray, Briefing Paper Number 09147, House of Commons Library, 25 February 2021, p.4 85 OCHA, Humanitarian Needs Overview Ethiopia, February 2021, p.17 86 OCHA, Ethiopia – Tigray Region Humanitarian Update: Situation Report, 13 March 2021, p.2 87 OCHA, Ethiopia – Tigray Region Humanitarian Update: Situation Report, 8 March 2021, p.1 88 Q6 [Paul Turnbull] 89 International Crisis Group, Podcast: Risks of Starvation Rise in Ethiopia’s Tigray War, 23 February 2021 90 International Crisis Group, Podcast: Risks of Starvation Rise in Ethiopia’s Tigray War, 23 February 2021 91 Q8 [Edward Brown] 92 Q6 [Edward Brown] 93 UNHCR, Regional Update 14: Ethiopia Situation (Tigray Region), 16 March – 7 April, 12 April 2021 18 The humanitarian situation in Tigray