With hundreds of thousands of people at risk of starvation Ethiopia Several United Nations organizations sounded the alarm. According to a recent report by the United Nations, more than 350,000 people in the northern region of Tigray are living in “catastrophic conditions” – the highest level (5) of the internal classification of food insecurity. This is the largest number of people affected in a single country in a decade, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Food Program and UNICEF said on Thursday.
In addition, 2 million people are in emergency level 4 “and could quickly die of starvation without urgent measures”. UN organizations have made clear they are ready to fight hunger in Ethiopia and increase humanitarian aid – despite the need to ensure access to besieged Tigray.
The background to this conflict escalated in November. The Ethiopian government launched a military offensive against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, which had been in power in the area of ​​the same name until then.
Previously there were years of tension between the TPLF and the central government. The fighting in northern Ethiopia soon turned into a complex conflict, also involving the neighboring country الدولة Eritrea involved. The ongoing conflict has already displaced hundreds of thousands of people and caused chaos.
The US ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas Greenfield, said in New York on Thursday: “There may be famine already underway in certain areas that threatens the lives of hundreds of thousands. This is inappropriate.”