{"id":192429,"date":"2021-06-05T06:34:54","date_gmt":"2021-06-05T06:34:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thecanary.co\/?p=1439195"},"modified":"2021-06-05T06:34:54","modified_gmt":"2021-06-05T06:34:54","slug":"famine-imminent-in-ethiopias-war-torn-tigray-region-un","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/06\/05\/famine-imminent-in-ethiopias-war-torn-tigray-region-un\/","title":{"rendered":"Famine imminent in Ethiopia\u2019s war-torn Tigray region \u2013 UN"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The UN\u2019s humanitarian chief has warned that famine is imminent in Ethiopia\u2019s embattled Tigray region and the country\u2019s north. There&#8217;s now a risk that hundreds of thousands of people will die.<\/p>\n<h5>Echoes of the past<\/h5>\n<p>Mark Lowcock said that the situation has \u201chorrible echoes\u201d of the 1984 famine. The area\u2019s economy has been destroyed along with businesses, crops, and farms, and there are also no banking or telecommunications services. Lowcock said:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>We are hearing of starvation-related deaths already.<\/p>\n<p>People need to wake up. The international community needs to really step up, including through the provision of money.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span class=\"P8fk3KZLgvYCXoVwrI46mcMzaEJRnxDjsT0\"><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">&quot;Humanitarian and development partners need to work together. Where there is no peace &#8211; there can be no development.&quot; <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CNSozi?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@CNSozi<\/a> is the head of <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/UNEthiopia?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@UNEthiopia<\/a>.  <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Ethiopia?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Ethiopia<\/a> <\/p>\n<p>Watch more humanitarian leadership stories:<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Xyj8Qjmezd\">https:\/\/t.co\/Xyj8Qjmezd<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/hcGr0G3RX1\">pic.twitter.com\/hcGr0G3RX1<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; UN Geneva (@UNGeneva) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/UNGeneva\/status\/1400849828557459456?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 4, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/span><\/p>\n<p><!-- EMBED START Twitter --><\/p>\n<figure><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/figure>\n<p><!-- EMBED END Twitter --><\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s not known how many thousands of civilians or combatants have been killed since months of political tensions between Ethiopian president Abiy Ahmed\u2019s government and the Tigray leaders, who once dominated Ethiopia\u2019s government, erupted into warfare last November.<\/p>\n<p>Eritrea, a long-standing enemy of Tigray, has sided with neighbouring Ethiopia in the conflict.<\/p>\n<p>In late May, Lowcock \u2013 the under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs \u2013 painted a grim picture of Tigray since the war began, with an estimated two million people displaced; civilians killed and injured; rapes and other forms of \u201cabhorrent sexual violence\u201d widespread and systematic, and public and private infrastructure essential for civilians destroyed &#8211; including hospitals and agricultural land.<\/p>\n<p><!-- EMBED START PA Quote --><\/p>\n<figure><script async src=\"https:\/\/content-embed.pressassociation.com\/embeds.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/figure>\n<p><!-- EMBED END PA Quote --><\/p>\n<p>Lowcock said:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>There are now hundreds of thousands of people in Northern Ethiopia in famine conditions. That\u2019s the worst famine problem the world has seen for a decade, since a quarter of a million Somalis lost their lives in the famine there in 2011.<\/p>\n<p>This now has horrible echoes of the colossal tragedy in Ethiopia in 1984.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h5>1984<\/h5>\n<p>In the disastrous famine of 1984-85, about two million Africans died of starvation or famine-related ailments, about half of them in Ethiopia. Lowcock said:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>There is now a risk of a loss of life running into the hundreds of thousands \u2013 or worse<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><!-- EMBED START Image --><\/p>\n<figure id=\"embedded260050885\"><img src=\"https:\/\/image.assets.pressassociation.io\/v2\/image\/production\/485d7542c1e061d9e6518c8aad751505Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNjIyOTY0MzQ1\/2.60050885.jpg?w=640\" sizes=\"(max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/image.assets.pressassociation.io\/v2\/image\/production\/485d7542c1e061d9e6518c8aad751505Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNjIyOTY0MzQ1\/2.60050885.jpg?w=320 320w, https:\/\/image.assets.pressassociation.io\/v2\/image\/production\/485d7542c1e061d9e6518c8aad751505Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNjIyOTY0MzQ1\/2.60050885.jpg?w=640 640w, https:\/\/image.assets.pressassociation.io\/v2\/image\/production\/485d7542c1e061d9e6518c8aad751505Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNjIyOTY0MzQ1\/2.60050885.jpg?w=1280 1280w\" alt=\"Women at a camp for displaced people\" data-title=\"Ethiopia Tigray Eritreans in Charge\" data-copyright-holder=\"AP\" data-copyright-notice=\"AP\/Press Association Images\" data-credit=\"Ben Curtis\" data-usage-terms=\"UK only\" \/><figcaption>Tigrayan women gather to talk at a camp for the internally-displaced in an elementary school in Mekele, in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia (AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><!-- EMBED END Image --><\/p>\n<p>He said getting food and other humanitarian aid to all those in need is proving very difficult for aid agencies. The United Nations and the Ethiopian government have helped about two million people in recent months in northern Ethiopia, mainly in government-controlled areas, he said.<\/p>\n<p>But Lowcock said there are more than a million people in places controlled by Tigrayan opposition forces and \u201cthere have been deliberate, repeated, sustained attempts to prevent them getting food\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, there are places controlled by the Eritreans and other places controlled by militia groups where it is extremely difficult to deliver aid, Lowcock said. He added:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The access for aid workers is not there because of what men with guns and bombs are doing and what their political masters are telling them to do<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span class=\"kHyLqRAG76d5j8L8GbZmvHMNhdnlSfKpfXi3wul7OQaRzsZrDTSUDeBywqrtI3ezbJ2s2JnFp4B0I6W9Ma5Qc\"><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Humanitarian partners in <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Tigray?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Tigray<\/a> continue to provide support where possible. However, insecurity &amp; underfunding are limiting partners&#39; reach &amp; activity.<\/p>\n<p>Read about the ongoing response, needs &amp; challenges in our latest Situation Report <img src=\"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/13.0.1\/72x72\/1f4f2.png\" alt=\"?\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" \/> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/mUnOTRiv0a\">https:\/\/t.co\/mUnOTRiv0a<\/a> <\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/13.0.1\/72x72\/1f4f8.png\" alt=\"?\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" \/> OCHA\/Jordi <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/QdMxLiYq80\">pic.twitter.com\/QdMxLiYq80<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; UN OCHA Ethiopia (@OCHA_Ethiopia) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/OCHA_Ethiopia\/status\/1400416026765008896?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 3, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/span><\/p>\n<p><!-- EMBED START Twitter --><\/p>\n<figure><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/figure>\n<p><!-- EMBED END Twitter --><\/p>\n<h5>Famine<\/h5>\n<p>Lowcock said all the blockades need to be rolled back and the Eritreans, \u201cwho are responsible for a lot of this\u201d, need to withdraw in order for aid to get through to those facing famine. He said:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed needs to do what he said he was going to do and force the Eritreans to leave Ethiopia<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Lowcock said leaders of the seven major industrialised nations \u2013 the UK, US, Germany, France, Japan, Italy, and Canada \u2013 need to put the humanitarian crisis and threat of widespread famine in northern Ethiopia on the agenda of their summit from June 11-13 in Cornwall.<\/p>\n<p>And he warned:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Everyone needs to understand that were there to be a colossal tragedy of the sort that happened in 1984, the consequences would reach far and last long.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><!-- TRACKING START GA --><script>(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){ (i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o), m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m) })(window,document,'script','\/\/www.google-analytics.com\/analytics.js','ga');  ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'}); ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin); ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Edith M Lederer, AP'); ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', '50b12755-e0c2-405a-abbc-f6e38fb6bad4'); ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:news,paservice:news:world'); ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story'); ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite'); ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null); ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', null); ga('pacontentapi.set', 'anonymizeIp', true); ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Famine imminent in Ethiopiau2019s war-torn Tigray region u2013 UN'});<\/script><!-- TRACKING END GA --><\/p>\n<p>By <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thecanary.co\/author\/thecanary\/\">The Canary<\/a><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"syndicated-attribution\">This post was originally published on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecanary.co\/global\/world-news\/2021\/06\/05\/famine-imminent-in-ethiopias-war-torn-tigray-region-un\/\">The Canary<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The body\u2019s humanitarian chief said the situation has \u2018horrible echoes\u2019 of the 1984 famine.<\/p>\n<p>By <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thecanary.co\/author\/thecanary\/\">The Canary<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1541,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5588,15623,1268,365,4,25504,1680],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192429"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1541"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=192429"}],"version-history":[{"count":69,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192429\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":202822,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192429\/revisions\/202822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=192429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=192429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=192429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}