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The United Nations humanitarian chief warned Tuesday that the 1984 famine that killed more than 1 million Ethiopians could occur again if aid access to that country’s northern Tigray region is not quickly improved, scaled up and properly funded.

“There is now famine in Tigray,” aid chief Mark Lowcock told a private, informal meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday, according to a copy of his written remarks seen by VOA.

He said the Tigray administration has reported deaths from starvation.

“The situation is set to get worse in the coming months, not only in Tigray, but in Afar and Amhara, as well.”

Last week, urgent calls went out from the U.N. and partner aid agencies for a humanitarian cease-fire. It came on the heels of a report warning that 350,000 people were already in famine conditions in Tigray and that 2 million more were just a step away.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC as it is known, reported that more than 5.5 million people overall were in crisis levels of food insecurity in Tigray and the neighboring zones of Amhara and Afar.

The U.N. children’s agency UNICEF has also warned that 33,000 severely malnourished children in currently unreachable areas of Tigray are also at high risk of death.

The scope of the problem is massive. Lowcock said there were 123 humanitarian agencies operating in the area and 10 times as many aid workers in Tigray today than at the start of the crisis in November.

“But substantial further scale-up is urgently required if we are to make a significant impact on growing needs,” Lowcock said.

The United Nations has appealed for $853 million to assist 5.2 million people until the end of the year, with almost $200 million needed before the end of July.

Access to people in remote and hard-to-reach areas has been an ongoing problem since the conflict erupted in November between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front and the government of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

Ethiopia’s U.N. ambassador, Taye Atske Selassie Amde, said the situation did not warrant security council attention. He added that his government “vehemently disagreed” with the humanitarian assessment, saying data was collected in a “very botched” way.

“Having said that, using humanitarian issues, particularly famine and starvation, in order to exert undue pressure on Ethiopia is completely unacceptable,” he told reporters after the meeting.

“It’s not a drought or locusts that are causing this hunger, but the decisions of those in power,” British Ambassador Barbara Woodward said. “That means those in power could also end the suffering.”

She added that Eritrean forces need to leave Ethiopia.

“We were told in March that Eritrean forces would be withdrawing. It’s now June. There can be no further delay,” she told reporters.

The Ethiopian envoy said the delay was due to “sorting some technical and procedural issues.”

“Our expectation is that they will definitely leave soon,” he said.

U.S. envoy Jeffrey DeLaurentis told council members that “we have to act now” to prevent a famine, according to a diplomat familiar with the council’s discussion.

DeLaurentis also called for an urgent end to hostilities, unhindered aid access and a political dialogue to resolve the crisis, as well as accountability for those responsible for human rights abuses.

The U.N. Security Council has held a handful of private meetings on the growing crisis but has failed to take any serious action to pressure the parties to stop the fighting, allow aid workers safely in and get Eritrea’s troops to leave.

In April, the council issued a statement calling for better humanitarian access, but it has taken no action to pressure spoilers to comply.

Source: Voice of America

When police in South Sudan’s Lakes state heard tensions were rising between two local communities, they deployed forces along area roads and villages in an effort to prevent clashes.

The police also switched off the mobile phone network in East Rumbek County so that armed men from the Alou and Manyangreel cattle camps could not call their friends and urge them to join the fighting, said Lakes state police spokesperson Captain Elijah Mabor Makuac.

Unfortunately, the police effort could not prevent casualties. Makuac said fighting “between two main sections of Gony and Thuyic” erupted about 10 a.m. Saturday over the rights to two areas of cattle grazing land. He said 18 people were killed and 22 others were injured.

According to Makuac, authorities were hampered in their response despite advance knowledge of the tensions. He said police are reluctant to wade into inter-communal clashes because armed youth often turn against the police and shoot them.

The spokesman also said there are no roads leading into or out of areas where the fighting took place.

The Alou and Manyangreel communities have repeatedly fought over grazing land. Makuac urged national government officials to intervene and settle the dispute.

“Our role as police is to report security issues when things are out of our hands like this, because this type of conflict is out of the control of police,” Makuac told VOA. “Even the armed youth are more armed than the organized forces themselves, so we provide security reports and then authorities will decide on it.”

Reverend Father Benjam Madol of the Catholic Diocese of Rumbek condemned the violence and also called on the national government to pay closer attention to armed young men in Lakes State before the violence gets worse.

“These youths fighting each other have lost value in society. They are not our people, they are wild, and they don’t listen to anyone, even their parents. They have grown disrespectful in the society. I don’t see what they are fighting for because the land is vast for the animals to graze,” Madol told “South Sudan in Focus.”

Meanwhile, police in Lakes state say they are preparing to receive Lt. General Rin Tueny Mabor, the newly appointed Lakes governor, in the coming week. A security committee will brief Governor Mabor upon his arrival about the ongoing inter-communal clashes.

Source: Voice of America

The U.N. Children’s Fund warns at least 33,000 severely malnourished children in northern Ethiopia’s Tigray region face imminent death if they do not receive immediate help to treat their condition.

UNICEF is appealing to the Ethiopian government to live up to its promise of unimpeded access to conflict-ridden Tigray province. Agency spokesman James Elder warns this man-made disaster will have unimaginably tragic consequences for thousands of children if aid agencies are unable to reach them.

“Incredulously, things can actually deteriorate further for children as food insecurity is expected to worsen over the coming months. So, we risk many more deaths than the 33,000 that we fear if crops cannot be planted. So, it is imperative that parties to the conflict ensures humanitarian access to UNICEF and unimpeded and safe access on the ground to stave off widespread famine,” he said.

UNICEF reports at least 140,000 people in Tigray are facing famine-like conditions. Amid this crisis, it projects some 56,000 children will need treatment for severe acute malnutrition. This, it notes is almost six times higher than the average annual caseload for the region.

Elder said helping these children will be difficult. He said the warring parties have inflicted extensive damage to essential systems and services on which children depend for their survival.

He said health facilities have been looted or damaged, and water infrastructure has been destroyed, causing safe drinking water to be in short supply. This, he warns could lead to outbreaks of disease, putting malnourished children at even greater risk of dying.

He said health workers have been attacked and harassed, discouraging many from returning to work.

“Mobile health and nutrition teams need to be able to do their jobs safely. They are trying right now as we speak to do upcoming measles, polio, vitamin A nutrition campaigns. Remember, it is not just the lack of food that kills under-fives, it is other diseases, water and sanitation,” said Elder.

UNICEF is calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities so children can safely receive the lifesaving services they need to begin to rebuild their lives. It says it also needs the cash to be able to fund these services.

The UN children’s agency says it is $13 million short of the $47 million it needs to care for 1.3 million children, many of whom are struggling to survive.

Source: Voice of America