Humanitarian teams are closely monitoring the situation and stand ready to assess needs and scale up the response as security allows
The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, has warned that renewed fighting in northern Ethiopia risks deepening suffering in a region still bearing the scars of the last conflict. In a social media post, he stressed that humanitarians need safe, unimpeded access to reach people, understand what they need, and scale up fast.
The UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ethiopia, Ozonnia Ojielo, today voiced his concerns over the protection of civilians amid the rapidly evolving situation in the north of the country, calling on all parties for unimpeded access to reach communities in need. He stressed that growing insecurity in the north in recent months has already disrupted humanitarian operations and put aid workers at greater risk.
In Tigray, flights to and from the region remain suspended.
Humanitarian partners on the ground report that hospitals are receiving large numbers of people injured in the conflict.
In the Amhara Region, insecurity persists, particularly in the zones of North Wollo and Wag Himra, although improved conditions along some key roads have allowed movements to resume. Partners say that a convoy carrying humanitarians from the town of Sekota safely arrived in the town of Lalibela.
While humanitarian access is being negotiated in hard-to-reach areas, partners are working to expand assistance.
In the Afar Region, the UN and its partners are working with the parties on using transport corridors for humanitarian work into and out of Tigray.
Humanitarian teams are closely monitoring the situation and stand ready to assess needs and scale up the response as security allows.
Safe and unhindered humanitarian access and restoring essential services remain critical to reaching people in need. Enditem
Source: APO
