TLTP
\nNEW YORK
\nThe United Nations has warned that millions of children in Ethiopia\u2019s Tigray region remain out of reach, despite an agreement made earlier this month to channel desperately needed humanitarian aid to the northern region where a month of war has killed, wounded and uprooted a large number of people.
\n\u201cSome 2.3 million children in Tigray, Ethiopia, remain cut off from humanitarian assistance amid continuing violence since the beginning of November,\u201d UNICEF executive director Henrietta Fore said in a statement on Tuesday.
\n\u201cWe are extremely concerned that the longer access to them is delayed, the worse their situation will become as supplies of food, including ready-to-use therapeutic food for the treatment of child malnutrition, medicines, water, fuel and other essentials run low,\u201d Fore said.
\n\u201cProtecting these children, many of whom are refugees and internally displaced, and providing them with humanitarian aid must be a priority,\u201d she added.
\nThe pact reached with Ethiopia and announced by UN officials on December 2 aimed to allow aid workers \u201cunimpeded\u201d access to the government-controlled areas of Tigray, where federal troops have been battling the Tigray People\u2019s Liberation Front (TPLF).
\nPrime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced a military operation against forces loyal to the TPLF on November 4.
\nAbiy, last year\u2019s Nobel Peace Prize winner, has rejected the idea of dialogue with the TPLF leaders, who are on the run but say they continue to fight even after the government claimed seizure of the regional capital, Mekelle.
\nBut in its statement on Wednesday, UNICEF said the situation remained difficult, calling for \u201curgent, sustained, unconditional and impartial humanitarian access to all families in need wherever they are\u201d.
\n\u201cWe also urge authorities to allow the free movement of civilians wishing to seek safety elsewhere. This includes those requesting to cross the border to seek international protection. \u201cMeeting the critical needs of children and women must not be delayed any longer,\u201d the UNICEF statement said.
\nThe UN said some two million people in Tigray need assistance \u2013 a doubling from the number before the fighting \u2013 and some one million people are displaced.
\nFood, fuel and cash are in short supply, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), while the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says basic medical equipment is lacking.
\nThe UN also sounded an alarm over severe food shortages being faced by nearly 100,000 Eritrean refugees sheltering in Tigray\u2019s camps, requesting \u201curgent access\u201d to deliver aid.
\nEritreans often leave to escape mandatory, indefinite military service and repression or search for better opportunities out of what has long been one of the world\u2019s most isolated countries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TLTP NEW YORK The United Nations has warned that millions of children in Ethiopia\u2019s Tigray region remain out of reach, despite an agreement made earlier this month to channel desperately needed humanitarian aid to the northern region where a month of war has killed, wounded and uprooted a large number of people. \u201cSome 2.3 million […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":162492,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-162546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n