00:00 World Food Programme's following the US in suspending food aid to Ethiopia after finding
00:05 massive theft of previous donations.
00:09 The WFP's decision is temporary and it says that it's boosting its monitoring of supplies.
00:14 USAID, though, hasn't shared who was behind the diversions of food aid to Tigray, but
00:20 says that it appeared to involve collusion between both sides in the conflict between
00:24 the federal government and rebels from the northern region.
00:28 The devastating two-year war ended in November, but the fallout continues.
00:34 As well as sparking a vast humanitarian crisis, new figures suggest that over 100,000 people
00:40 died, taking the world conflict-related death toll to a 28-year high.
00:45 Clotilde Tazard has more.
00:48 Fifty-five conflicts have been recorded last year in the world and almost half of them,
00:53 27 precisely, took place on the African continent.
00:57 That's killing so many people last year is not the number of conflicts, but their intensity,
01:02 especially the Ethiopian conflict in Tigray.
01:05 Let's listen to Siri Asrustad, director researcher taking part in the UPSALA conflict data programme.
01:12 We're to 2021.
01:13 The battle-related deaths more than doubled.
01:18 So in 2021, it was recorded 87,000.
01:23 And in 2022, it was recorded 204,000.
01:27 This is the highest number since 1984.
01:30 It doesn't mean that the general conflict landscape has intensified, but we have a few
01:38 really intense conflict.
01:40 And this year we had two.
01:41 We had both Ukraine and Ethiopia.
01:44 Data collection for the conflict in Ethiopia has been particularly difficult because of
01:49 the blocking of internet and the ban of journalists covering the conflict.
01:54 The estimate of 100,000 battle-related deaths is primarily based on the NGO's work.
02:02 And it doesn't count all the indirect casualties, those people who died of hunger and disease
02:08 and lack of medical infrastructure.
02:11 There is no official count.
02:13 And the only independent assessment has been made at the end of 2022 by the Belgium University
02:19 of Ghan, estimating the number of deaths between 385,000 and 600,000.
02:26 And even today, Tigray's authority reports that many civilians are still suffering and
02:32 dying from the lack of food, one of the consequences of the conflict.
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