Spectates from the frontline: Humanitarian assistance, aid coordination, and challenges in the Tigray Crisis

To ascertain the coordination platform of the humanitarian assistance and aid efforts undertaken seven months after the crisis occurred, this study was conducted in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia. Specific purposes of the study were to describe the coordination platform of the humanitarian assistance, assess the humanitarian needs and responses, and identify the major challenges encountered to deliver humanitarian assistance. Observation and key-informant interviews were used to gain the primary data. The study shows that the coordination platform of the humanitarian assistance led by the interim administration of the Tigray region and co-led by UNOCHA. Eight sectors were being implemented for the emergency response; each sector led by the relevant stakeholders. The sectors hold weekly meeting, while each sector delivered daily updates to the emergency coordination center (ECC). The regional emergency coordination center hosted two meetings per week to briefly discuss the progress of aid delivery. With the limited access and unsustainable communication facility, each sector provided the essential assistance to the needy people, while the needs versus the provided supports had massive gaps. Among other encounters, challenges related to security and access, administrative and operations encounters, and funding limitations have affected the humanitarian assistance. Unless root causes of the conflict are addressed, the operational problems would remain as they were. If the humanitarian assistance is not scaled up, situations related to disease outbreak, famine, and sever security situations are projected to be rampant. Key words: Humanitarian assistance, needs and responses, coordination, challenges, Tigray conflict.