UN frustrated by Tigray aid delays, with time running out

The United Nations on Friday hit out at the hold-ups slowing down the flow of desperately needed aid into conflict-ridden Tigray as it tries to tackle the “catastrophic” humanitarian situation.

UN agencies said they were facing continual difficulties getting supplies, staff and equipment into the northern region of Ethiopia — and warned of the dire situation facing millions affected by the unrest.

They also said more than $430 million — half the total requirement — was still needed to fund the humanitarian response in Tigray this year.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that after eight months of conflict in Tigray, 5.2 million people — around 90 percent of the population — needed life-saving and life-sustaining humanitarian assistance.

“Humanitarian access is the biggest challenge,” OCHA spokesman Jens Laerke told reporters in Geneva.

Since June, only one 50-truck convoy of aid supplies has been able to enter Tigray.

Aid workers and supplies have only been allowed in via one land route, involving multiple checkpoints at which staff have been “interrogated, intimidated and in some instances detained,” said Laerke.

“All entry routes to Tigray should be opened — both by air and road — to enable humanitarian organisations to prevent large-scale loss of life in Tigray.”

– ‘Limited time left’ –

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent troops into Tigray last November to oust the region’s ruling party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front — a move he said was in response to TPLF attacks on federal army camps.

Though the 2019 Nobel Peace laureate declared victory later that month, TPLF leaders remained on the run, and fighting dragged on.

Alice Wairimu Nderitu, the UN special adviser on the prevention of genocide, voiced alarm Friday at the allegations of violations of human rights law in the region and elsewhere in Ethiopia.

“It is imperative that the rights of all populations of Ethiopia are respected, irrespective of ethnicity or political affiliation,” she said in a statement.

The UN’s humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths started a six-day mission to the country on Thursday, in which he will meet officials and travel to Tigray, while US aid head Samantha Power is also heading for talks in Addis Ababa.

OCHA urged the Ethiopian government to allow humanitarians to bring in crucial satellite telephones and provide longer visas for non-governmental organisation staff.

“Millions of people are severely food insecure and hundreds of thousands are facing famine-like conditions,” said Laerke.

“There is extremely limited time left to halt the rapid deterioration of the food security situation.”

– ‘Drop in the ocean’ –

The UN’s World Food Programme said it had now been more than two weeks since the 50-truck WFP-led convoy had reached Tigray’s capital Mekele.

Spokesman Tomson Phiri said a convoy of more than 200 trucks was en route from Semera to Mekele.

“This is a drop in the ocean. We need at least 100 trucks to be making their way every day into Tigray if we are to stand a chance to reverse the catastrophic situation,” he told reporters.

UNICEF, the UN Children’s Emergency Fund, estimates that more than 100,000 children in Tigray could suffer from life-threatening severe acute malnutrition in the next 12 months — 10 times the annual average.

Screening data also indicates that 47 percent of all pregnant and breastfeeding women are acutely malnourished.

UNICEF spokeswoman Marixie Mercado said the agency currently had enough supplies in Tigray to treat severe malnutrition in only 6,900 children.

“We need unfettered access,” Mercado insisted.

She said humanitarians also needed reliable access to fuel, cash and telecommunications.

“Above all, UNICEF calls on all parties to respect their fundamental obligation to protect children from harm,” said Mercado.

The World Health Organization said that besides Covid-19, it also was concerned about malaria, cholera and measles in Tigray, while just 16 out of 40 hospitals in the region are fully functioning.

Medical supplies such as vaccines, as well as trauma and surgical kits, are running out, the WHO said.