GLOBAL EM
"UNICEF Mitarbeiter untersucht Menschen in Aethiopien" by Nesbitt is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
Tigray, Ethiopia: The War May be Ending but the Challenges Facing Humanitarian Responders Are Immense By Charlotte Roy, MD, MPH, Rebecca Leff, MD, Tsion Firew, MD, MPH, on behalf of the SAEM Global Emergency Medicine Academy While the ongoing conflict in Ukraine inspired increased attention to global humanitarian efforts, it also exposed imbalances in aid delivery. Armed conflict in Tigray, a northern region of Ethiopia, began in November 2020 and has resulted in one of the world’s greatest humanitarian crises. Yet, according to UN OCHA, Ethiopia received less than half of the humanitarian funding required in 2022. In November 2022, the Government of Ethiopia and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front signed a peace treaty agreeing to a “permanent cessation of hostilities.” This development will greatly increase access in Tigray, which has been cut off from the rest of
the country and the world since the war began. Nonetheless, the humanitarian needs of Tigrayans and the challenges that lay ahead for humanitarian responders are immense. War between regional Tigrayan forces and the federal government of Ethiopia began in November 2020 and has resulted in the forced displacement of more than 2.3 million people. Many more have been subjected to arbitrary detention, torture, abduction, and enforced disappearances. Particularly troubling are reports of attacks against civilians, including ethnic-based killings, who have taken no direct part in hostilities. All sides, including military
forces from Eritrea, have been accused of engaging in human rights violations, including acts of sexual and genderbased violence. Conflict in Tigray has also spread to neighboring regions of Amhara and Afar, resulting in an expanding area in severe need of humanitarian assistance. Among the devastating effects of the war in Tigray is the near complete destruction of the region’s health care system. Prior to the conflict, Tigrayans benefitted from a strong system of community-based primary health care known as the Health Extension Program.
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