Relief for Tigray stalled as Ethiopian government curbs access (The New Humanitarian)
Posted: 16 Feb 2021, 15:47
‘Humanitarian, diplomatic, and media agencies will have to endure the inconvenience of heeding to the direction of the government.’
GENEVA
Lack of humanitarian access is fast becoming a defining issue in Ethiopia’s three-month conflict in Tigray: The UN and aid agencies say they’re not allowed to move sufficient personnel and goods into and around the region, and are being denied visas to bring in new international staff.
Aid workers, NGO managers, and others involved in the response told The New Humanitarian the rules on access keep changing, and agreements with the government have not delivered as hoped, leading to a state of paralysis in the relief effort.
In a statement today, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said: “Ending the suffering in Tigray and around the country is now my highest priority. This is why I am calling for the United Nations and international relief agencies to work with my government.”
But even the Ethiopian Red Cross, which enjoys relatively good access, said this week that it could only reach 20 percent of the people in need in the Tigray region.
The Red Cross, church-affiliated aid groups, and Ethiopian national aid workers have fewer hurdles, but foreign aid groups say they have barely got started. Veteran NGO leader Jan Egeland, secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said: “I have rarely seen a humanitarian response so impeded and unable to deliver.”
Even for the few aid workers who do manage to become deployed in the region, “the ‘rules of the game’ change on a day-by-day basis”, according to a UN update shared with international NGOs at the end of January, and obtained by TNH.
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GENEVA
Lack of humanitarian access is fast becoming a defining issue in Ethiopia’s three-month conflict in Tigray: The UN and aid agencies say they’re not allowed to move sufficient personnel and goods into and around the region, and are being denied visas to bring in new international staff.
Aid workers, NGO managers, and others involved in the response told The New Humanitarian the rules on access keep changing, and agreements with the government have not delivered as hoped, leading to a state of paralysis in the relief effort.
In a statement today, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said: “Ending the suffering in Tigray and around the country is now my highest priority. This is why I am calling for the United Nations and international relief agencies to work with my government.”
But even the Ethiopian Red Cross, which enjoys relatively good access, said this week that it could only reach 20 percent of the people in need in the Tigray region.
The Red Cross, church-affiliated aid groups, and Ethiopian national aid workers have fewer hurdles, but foreign aid groups say they have barely got started. Veteran NGO leader Jan Egeland, secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said: “I have rarely seen a humanitarian response so impeded and unable to deliver.”
Even for the few aid workers who do manage to become deployed in the region, “the ‘rules of the game’ change on a day-by-day basis”, according to a UN update shared with international NGOs at the end of January, and obtained by TNH.
Continue reading