The World Health Organisation has been unable to send supplies to the war-torn region of Tigray, Ethiopia, even though its Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has roots in the province. Against the backdrop of a humanitarian crisis, Tedros has said the region is under a “systemic” blockade, which is preventing supplies and medicines from being sent in.
Assistance from WHO and other aid organisations has shrivelled to “almost nothing”, he said. “So no medicine. People are dying. No food. People are starving. No telecommunication. They are isolated from the rest of the world. No fuel. No cash,” he added.
On November 10, the United Nations said Ethiopia had detained 72 drivers working for the World Food Programme. The UN’s spokesperson said 10 of its staffers had been detained.
80 per cent of essential medicines are no longer in Tigray, with most health facilities not functioning, the UN said in a report on Thursday. Lakhs of people are facing starvation as a result of the conflict.
The United States on Friday imposed sanctions on Eritrea’s military and ruling party. “We condemn the continued role played by Eritrean actors who are contributing to the violence in northern Ethiopia, which has undermined the stability and integrity of the state and resulted in a humanitarian disaster,” said Office of Foreign Assets Control director Andrea M. Gacki.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who won the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize for ending the 20-year-long war between Ethiopia and Eritrea, had declared a state of emergency on November 3 after rebel forces from the Tigray People's Liberation Front closed in on Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa. Just a year prior, he enlisted the aid of former wartime enemy Eritrea in invading the Tigray Province, alongside Ethiopian troops, in a bid to crack down on the TPLF.
The TPLF helped lead the successful revolution against the military junta regime (dubbed the “Derg), and dominated Ethiopia’s politics between 1991 and 2018. Since May, it has been declared a terrorist organisation
Following the joint Ethiopian and Eritrean offensive, the TPLF were able to retreat into mountaineous locations. Their counter-attack forced Ethiopian troops out of the Tigray, and they have since made heady gains across the mainland.
Tedros, who has repeatedly said he will not take sides in the conflict, faces a challenge. With Ethiopian officials like the army chief of staff accusing him of being a member of the TPLF, he faces a challenge of neutrality. He served as health minister and foreign minister under a coalition led by the TPLF between 2005-16. “There have been reports suggesting I am taking sides in this situation. This is not true and I want to say that I am on only one side and that is the side of peace,” Tedros had said in a tweet.
With his bid for a second term as head of the WHO approved, he is set for re-election with no competitors for the post. However, among the countries that opposed his bid was Ethiopia itself.