Turning to Ethiopia, Mark Lowcock, the Emergency Relief Coordinator, briefed the Security Council today. He focused on the current humanitarian situation, access to the region, and action needed to scale up humanitarian deliveries. Mr. Lowcock pointed out that at least 4.5 million people in Tigray need assistance, according to official estimates. Many people in rural areas remain inaccessible and food security is a major concern. Access to water, hygiene and sanitation services are largely disrupted across Tigray, increasing the risk of disease outbreaks, including water-borne diseases, measles and COVID-19. Health services are also disrupted, with only 22 per cent of the 205 health facilities in Tigray being fully functional. Mr. Lowcock said that, despite the recent progress, much more needs to be done to get aid to people who need it throughout Tigray. He emphasized the need to dramatically scale up humanitarian assistance throughout the province by facilitating independent need assessments; deploying humanitarian staff throughout the province; restoring basic communications and banking services — and he also called for increased urgent funding for humanitarian operations.
Also on Ethiopia, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, stressed the urgent need for an objective, independent assessment of the facts on the ground in Tigray. She said she continues to receive distressing report of sexual and gender-based violence, extrajudicial killings, widespread destruction and looting of public and private property by all parties. She stressed that there are also reports of continuing fighting in central Tigray. The High Commissioner noted that a preliminary analysis of the information received indicates that serious violations of international law, possibly amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity, may have been committed by multiple actors in the conflict. These include the Ethiopian National Defence Forces, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, Eritrean armed forces and Amhara Regional Forces and affiliated militias.
