Ethiopia

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

Clashes and administrative hurdles are limiting humanitarian access to Ethiopia’s Tigray region, including two refugee camps that have been inaccessible since November 2020, according to officials.  United Nations personnel are working with the Government to ensure clearances for aid workers, many of whom are waiting with supplies in Addis Ababa.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports rising hunger and malnutrition in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, where months of conflict have worsened a dire situation caused by COVID-19 and locusts.  Nearly 80 per cent of hospitals in Tigray are not functional, according to the World Health Organization.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says the number of people displaced by violence in Africa’s Sahel region has reached 2 million.  Officials warn that needs continue to surge, with multiple crises converging and the humanitarian response dangerously overstretched.

Pramila Patten, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Sexual Violence in Conflict, today expressed great concern about serious allegations of sexual violence in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, including a high number of alleged rapes in the capital. She called for zero tolerance of sexual violence among all warring parties.

From Madagascar, the United Nations is issuing a flash appeal for $76 million to support more than 1 million people in the south who face a potentially life-threatening lack of food, nutrition, water and sanitation, and health assistance due to the region’s worst drought in 10 years coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees  (UNHCR), Jordan launched one of the world’s first COVID-19 vaccination drives for refugees on 14 January.  An Iraqi woman in the city of Irbid was the first registered refugee to be vaccinated as part of Jordan’s national campaign.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is deeply concerned about the plight of hundreds of thousands of people in Ethiopia’s strife-torn Tigray region who have yet to receive life-saving assistance.  The situation is particularly critical for newly displaced people and refugees.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Food Price Index averaged 107.5 points in December 2020, 2.2 per cent higher than in November 2020, FAO said today.  World food prices rose for the seventh consecutive month last month, an increase led by high demand for dairy products.

United Nations humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock has allocated $1.5 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund to the Food and Agriculture Organization for desert locust control operations in Kenya.  Swarms could threaten livelihoods and food security of 3.6 million people across the region if they are not controlled.