The United States has lifted some aid restrictions in Ethiopia in view of progress made in the field of human rights, according to White House national security spokesman John Kirby.
The progress in the field of human rights took place especially after the ceasefire agreement signed by the Ethiopian government and the Tigray region forces in November.
The agreement ended a conflict that left hundreds of thousands of people facing starvation, millions displaced and tens of thousands dead.
Despite an overall decline in violence since the ceasefire, rights groups say violence, including ethnic cleansing, has continued in Ethiopia’s Tigray region.
“This decision, we believe, expands the tools we have to strengthen our support for lasting peace in Ethiopia.” Kirby said so.
The US State Department said that its aid supports peace and reconciliation in Ethiopia.
The US government limited economic and security aid to Ethiopia during the war and cut off trade benefits from the American African Growth and Opportunity Act or AGOA, a tariff-free program that benefited the country’s garment sector.
The United States Agency for International Development said earlier this month it had suspended food aid to Ethiopia because its aid was being diverted from people in need, a day later the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (WFP) said did another.
More than 20 million people are in need of food aid in Africa’s second most populous country, due to the worst drought in decades and fighting in northern Ethiopia.
The United States ruled in March that all sides had committed war crimes.
Ethiopia has denied the accusations, just like its neighboring country Eritrea, which has been supporting Ethiopian troops in the war in Tigray region.
