The United Nations announced Thursday a $35.6 million emergency aid package for civilians caught up in fighting in Ethiopia's Tigray region.
Violence broke out in Tigray in early November when Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed launched military operations targeting Tigray's ruling party.
In Ethiopia itself, $25 million will go toward the purchase of medicine and medical gear to help sick or wounded civilians, and to buy food and provide drinking water, the UN said.
In neighbouring Sudan, where more than 50,000 people have fled to escape the fighting, another $10.6 million is being disbursed to help these refugees.
"After six weeks of conflict, the civilian toll is mounting. Women and children arrive in Sudan with disturbing stories of violence, deprivation and abuse," said UN emergency relief coordinator Mark Lowcock.
"We need unfettered access now," he said.
Tigray, an impoverished region of about six million people, faced formidable food security challenges before the conflict began, compounded this year by the coronavirus pandemic and the worst desert locust infestation in decades.
Now aid agencies fear the fighting - which has reportedly killed thousands and displaced many thousands more - could tip the region into catastrophe.
Tensions over aid access have been mounting in recent weeks between Mr Abiy, last year's Nobel Peace Prize winner, and humanitarian officials.
Mr Abiy's government has stressed its commitment to getting aid to "vulnerable communities," saying it will take the lead while coordinating access for outsiders, partly because of persistent insecurity.
But that process has not gone smoothly and the United Nations has expressed frustration over lack of access.
A week after the UN inked a deal ostensibly allowing some access, security forces fired on a UN assessment team trying to visit a camp for Eritrean refugees, claiming they had ignored instructions and driven through checkpoints.
The UN said late Wednesday that 18 trucks bearing 570 tonnes of food had finally reached Tigray, although it was still awaiting "unhindered and full humanitarian access".
The European Union has postponed nearly 90 million euros ($110 million) in budget support to Ethiopia unless the government meets its conditions, which include humanitarian access to all of Tigray.
The government, meanwhile, has been touting its own efforts to provide assistance.
In the Tigray town of Alamata, officials last Friday distributed 50 kilogram sacks of wheat - branded with the Ethiopian flag - to hundreds of residents who queued outside a warehouse, some using umbrellas to block the sun.
But Alamata has not seen much combat, nor is it home to many displaced Ethiopians.
An official with the federal disaster commission, Solomon Admasu, acknowledged he and his colleagues were struggling to reach areas hit harder by the fighting.
"The resources are there, but there are places that are not stable and places that have security problems," Solomon said.
Another issue is that many local officials in Tigray are feared to have fled their posts, potentially complicating food distribution once federal officials make it deeper into the region, said Assefa Mulugeta, a peace ministry official coordinating the government aid effort in Alamata.
"The government needs help, it is obvious," he said, "because the demands are very high."
