Both parties in the Tigray conflict are accused of using torture, murdering civilians, committing gang rapes, and discriminating based on ethnicity.
As the “greatest humanitarian disaster in the world,” the president of the World Health Organization has attributed the lack of attention to the crisis in Ethiopia’s Tigray area to racism.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, a native of Tigray, pleaded passionately at a media conference on Wednesday, asking why the conflict was not covered as extensively as the Ukraine conflict.
“Perhaps the cause is the color of the people’s skin,” remarked the WHO director-general.
The northern Ethiopian region of Tigray is engulfed in a conflict between government forces – aided by Eritrean and other militia – and forces loyal to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF),
Since the violence began in November 2020, there are famine-like circumstances in Tigray and neighboring regions, and many people have been displaced from their homes and shut off from the rest of the world.
According to the United Nations, human rights violations, atrocities against refugees, and “severe brutality” are occurring, with both sides accused of torture, killing civilians, gang rapes, and ethnic targeting.
Government officials have denied targeting civilians.
Earlier this year, some aid was able to enter the region when the government declared a humanitarian ceasefire, but the situation remains dire.
According to the World Food Programme (WFP), more than 20% of children under five and 50% of pregnant and lactating women in Tigray are malnourished, and 13 million people in northern Ethiopia require food assistance.
The World Food Programme (WFP) estimates that 7.4 million people wake up hungry every day in southern Ethiopia following the fourth consecutive unsuccessful rainy season.
At the same media event as Dr. Tedros, WHO emergency director Mike Ryan criticized apparent indifference to the drought and famine sweeping across eastern Africa.
Mr. Ryan remarked, “No one appears to care what’s happening in the Horn of Africa.”
The WHO has requested $123 million (£102 million) to combat malnutrition-related health issues in the area, which comprises Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, and South Sudan.
