 As far as political and military struggles, in 1978 REST—an organization largely funded by NGOs in the United States, Canada, Australia and Europe—was established as a humanitarian organization with a mandate to co-ordinate relief programs, rehabilitation and development both in Tigray and among Tigrayan refugees in neighboring Sudan).The founding of REST reflected the TPLF's need for a specialized body to handle relief and development, and also to respond to the Derg's efforts to restrict the flow of humanitarian and economic assistance to areas of Tigray that were coming under the control of the Front.Without REST, the TPLF and its supporters would have failed and the Derg would have still been in power.