While the world’s attention is on Ukraine, another war has triggered an escalating humanitarian crisis.
Only a trickle of aid is reaching the conflict zones of northern Ethiopia, and if a third consecutive crop-planting opportunity is missed then hunger-related deaths will likely spike.
In Tigray, the dissident region that’s been at war with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government since November 2020, hundreds of thousands of people are reported to have died due to fighting, hunger, and lack of medical care. The two sides agreed a conditional truce on Thursday, though it remains to be seen if the agreement will hold.
Untold numbers more are also displaced in the neighboring Amhara and Afar regions, where active conflict still takes place.
Federal forces have been accused of blocking much-needed assistance, and in recent days two convoys were prevented from reaching their targets, according to aid agencies. One was stoned, looted and the drivers beaten, they said.
The United Nations warns that families are exhausting all their means to access food. In a sign of progress, the rebels agreed to the government-declared truce, and the U.S. said all parties should build on the announcement to advance a negotiated and sustainable ceasefire.
Ethiopia’s economy continues to struggle. The budget is stretched and foreign direct investment has dried up. An extensive privatization of the country’s telecommunications industry — once the crown jewel of Abiy’s reform plans — has stalled.
The situation could deteriorate further if a bill to introduce strict financial sanctions on Ethiopia is passed by the U.S. Congress. And a drought that risks the lives of an additional 7 million people in the southern part of the country completes a bleak picture for Africa’s second-most populous nation.
Source: Bloomberg
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