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UNITED NATIONS, Nov.17 (Xinhua) – The United Nations and its partners are frustrated in delivering aid to the victims of the Tigray crisis in the northern Ethiopia area over blocked roads, threatening food insecurity for millions. people, UN humanitarian workers said Tuesday.
“Roads to the Tigray region remain blocked and humanitarian partners warn that humanitarian supplies will soon run out, putting millions at risk of food insecurity and disease, among other challenges,” said the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs ( OCHA) of the UN in a launch.
“I am increasingly concerned about the evolving humanitarian situation in northern Ethiopia and neighboring areas,” UN Under-Secretary-General Mark Lowcock, the UN emergency relief coordinator, said in a statement. “Even before the current hostilities, nearly a million people in Tigray, and millions more living in close proximity to its regional and national borders, were in need of humanitarian assistance.”
“The current situation is increasing the needs and vulnerability of the local population,” he said. “It is disrupting the work of the UN and other humanitarian organizations. I call for full access to reach people in need wherever they are; a safe passage for civilians seeking help; and the safety of humanitarian workers.”
A humanitarian preparedness plan targeting 1.98 million people with multi-sectoral assistance has been finalized in the Tigray, Afar and Amhara regions, OCHA said.
Humanitarian agencies are urging donors to quickly fund the plan so that once access is granted, the response can begin quickly.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters at a regular briefing that UN humanitarian partners in Ethiopia report the first batch of non-essential UN and non-governmental personnel who were evacuees from Tigray, through the Afar region. , arrived safely in Addis Ababa on Monday night.
A second group arrived at Semera in Afar on Tuesday morning, after a short delay due to insecurity concerns. Approximately 400 employees and foreign nationals have been relocated from Tigray.
The UN Resident Coordinators and their teams in the Horn of Africa are deeply concerned about the situation in Ethiopia and reiterate the Secretary-General’s call this month to reduce tensions.
“Our UN teams in four countries – Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan and Djibouti – are working with authorities to address the needs of the most affected people,” Dujarric said. “In Ethiopia, the UN team is particularly concerned about the plight of some of the most vulnerable households in Tigray. It is also concerned about the movement of people and the risk this carries for the spread of COVID-19.”
He said that since the start of the conflict on November 4, communications have been broken, disrupting access to health facilities.
The UN Refugee Agency warns that a large-scale humanitarian crisis is unfolding as 4,000 refugees daily flee the fighting in the Tigray region into eastern Sudan, a number not seen in this part of the country in the last two decades.
Since the early morning of November 4, the Ethiopian government has launched military operations against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, a local force in the regional state of Tigray. Final product
