The National Disaster and Risk Management Commission has planned to procure 1 million metric tons of wheat to meet its need for humanitarian assistance.

MitikuKassa, Commissioner of the National Disaster Risk Management Commission told Capital that the Commission is preparing to purchase one million metric tons of wheat through three phases.

“The procurement process will be based on the international wheat market and by our 2021 need,” the commissioner said adding “since the global market is changing we made the procurement through three phases.”

As Mitiku said, the commission has planned to commence the two phases through direct procurement as ‘urgent procurement’ due to the current situation in the country while the remaining phase will be procured through the Public Procurement and Property Disposal Service (PPPDS).

After the military confrontation with TPLF on November 4, 2020, tens of thousands of people are reportedly in need of humanitarian assistance in Tigray region.

According to Mitiku the Commission is working to identify the total humanitarian assistant needed in the country. Currently due to the military offence in the Tigray region including some 1.1 million people who were getting food aid under the safety net program, it is estimated that there are about 1.8 million in need of humanitarian assistance.

“The internal displacement in the region is not that much; therefore it does not affect the normal operation of the commission that much,” said Mitiku.

By deploying eight coordination teams the National Disaster and Risk Management Commission has dispatched food and non-food assistance to 250,000 people in Tigray region as soon as the military operation ended, according to Mitiku, who is in charge of coordinating and leading emergency responses in Ethiopia.

So far as Mitiku said 70 trucks of humanitarian aid has been sent to the region to supply both food and none food items.

“The Ethiopian government has provided the Tigray population with food and other staples, within the rehabilitation process of the regional state,” the Commission assured the public on Thursday.

According to official sources, several non-governmental agencies are also providing humanitarian assistance, including agriculture and livestock, water and sanitation, health, education and nutrition, non-food items, logistics and different sanitary products for women and children.