Around 1,000 displaced families settled
in various localities in eastern Tigray have received construction materials
so that they can rebuild their houses, which were destroyed or damaged
during the recent armed conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea.
The materials were supplied by the ICRC
and distributed by staff and volunteers from the Tigray branch of the Ethiopian
Red Cross Society (ERCS). Each family received the appropriate quantity
of wooden poles, corrugated iron sheets, nails and binding wire.
After the end of the hostilities a certain number of displaced families were unable to return to their home areas owing to the threat posed by landmines or to other security concerns. Other families returned only to find their houses partially or completely destroyed.
The aim of the ICRC/ERCS programme is to help the families who have returned home lead normal lives again and rebuild their houses. In the past two years, 1,500 families have benefited from similar construction assistance and 17 water points have been built or repaired.
Eastern Tigray continues to suffer from the after-effects of the conflict, and recently it has also had to cope with drought and environmental degradation. In the coming weeks, the ICRC and the ERCS plan to distribute food to vulnerable people living in the Erob and Adigrat areas so as to prevent a decline in their nutritional status. Seed will also be handed out so that farming families can start growing their own food again with the onset of the rains.
Further information: Gianni Volpin, ICRC Addis Ababa, tel. ++ 2511 518 366