UNICEF, the children’s arm of the United Nations, says about 2.3 million children in Ethiopia have been cut off from humanitarian aid amid reports of continued conflict between the nation and its Tigray region.
The Ethiopian government has declared victory and insisted that the conflict has ceased, but in a Tuesday statement, UNICEF said there is “continuing violence.”
At the beginning of December, the U.N. announced it reached a deal with the Ethiopian government to provide aid to at least the areas of Tigray that were under the control of the federal government. It appears that security concerns delayed this desperately needed assistance. At least four aid workers have been killed amid the fighting.
“We are extremely concerned that the longer access to them is delayed, the worse their situation will become as supplies of food, including ready-to-use therapeutic food for the treatment of child malnutrition, medicines, water, fuel and other essentials run low,” the statement read.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s office said in a statement on Friday, “Suggestions that humanitarian assistance is impeded due to active military combat, in several cities and surrounding areas within the Tigray region, is untrue and undermines the critical work undertaken by the National Defense Forces to stabilise the region from the attacks waged by the belligerent clique.”
While the aid agency acknowledges that some supplies have been delivered, it says more still needs to be done.
“We have already provided some supplies to a number of partners in Tigray but this is not enough,” UNICEF said. “We need to be able to provide support at scale in Tigray and to have full access to determine the scale of children’s needs.”
Conflict in the region began on Nov. 4 after Abiy claimed the Tigray People’s Liberation Front had attacked federal troops. The TPLF was the dominant party of the nation’s ruling coalition, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front, for many years. That coalition appointed Abiy as prime minister in 2018. Shortly thereafter, Abiy disbanded the coalition and created the Prosperity Party. The TPLF strongly opposed its formation and did not join.
