South Sudan: Statement by Ms. Sara Beysolow Nyanti, Humanitarian Coordinator in South Sudan on attacks on civilians and aid workers (16.02.2022)

South Sudan: OCHA – Abyei – Flash Update No. 1 (16.02.2022)

South Sudan: MSF staff member killed in intercommunal violence in Agok (16.02.2022)

MSF has been forced to temporarily suspend operations at the hospital, with the 24 patients that were receiving medical treatment transferred to a hospital in Abyei.

JUBA, South Sudan, February 16, 2022 – It is with great sadness that Doctors Without Borders (MSF) confirms the death of David Deng Aleu, a South Sudanese nurse that worked in the MSF hospital in Agok. David was killed inside his home on Thursday 10 February when intercommunal fighting broke out in Agok, a town 38km south of Abyei in South Sudan.

“We are deeply saddened by the death of our colleague and express our heartfelt condolences to David’s family and friends”, said Gouranga Manna, MSF Head of Mission in South Sudan. “We strongly condemn this act of violence which has led to the tragic loss of lives in the community.”

As fighting broke out, locals have fled to the surrounding bush and other towns for safety. Among them were several members of our staff that work at the MSF Hospital. As a result, MSF has been forced to temporarily suspend operations at the hospital, with the 24 patients that were receiving medical treatment transferred to a hospital in Abyei.

MSF remains committed to delivering medical assistance to the people of Agok. We are continuing to maintain a presence in the community to ensure access to essential medical care.

“MSF’s principles of independence, impartiality, and neutrality means that we provide medical care to any person in urgent need, regardless of their ethnicity, political affiliations or any other factor”, said Gouranga Manna. “We call for respect and safety of our medical teams so that we can continue to provide these life-saving services”.

Somalia: Elections must be finalized amid worsening drought, Security Council hears (16.02.2022)

James Swan, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative, briefed ambassadors on recent political developments.

NEW YORK, United States of America, February 16, 2022 – Somalia’s leaders must put aside their differences and urgently conclude a credible election process, the UN’s senior official in the country told the Security Council on Tuesday, noting that national elections are now more than a year behind schedule and women’s representation remains significantly off-track.

James Swan, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and Head of the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM), briefed ambassadors on recent political developments – including the conclusion of Upper House of Parliament elections, and the ongoing House of the People election – as well as increasing attacks by the Al-Shabaab militant group and a deepening humanitarian crisis triggered by one of the region’s worst droughts in decades.

Critical election

The Special Representative said that, since his last briefing in November 2021, election plans – first agreed earlier that year – have progressed considerably.

“While this is a welcome development, this pace needs to be further accelerated,” he said, noting that only 130 of 275 seats of the House of the People have been filled to date.

Pointing out that 23 of those seats have so far gone to women, about 22 per cent of the total, he said that number fell well short of the 30 per cent agreed women’s quota for the country’s political leaders, and urged all actors to redouble their efforts to meet that target.

While political tensions among some Somali leaders continue to flare up sporadically – largely the result of “posturing and brinkmanship” – he reported that they have so far been quickly contained.

“Yet, a real risk remains that a miscalculation could lead these tensions to spill over into conflict,” he warned.

Militant attacks 

In the security arena, the Al-Shabaab militant group continues to pose a major security threat to Somalia, with Banadir region and South West states, serving as its centre of operations.

Recent months have also seen an increase in the use of improvised explosive devices and rising numbers of attacks in the capital, Mogadishu, with civilian casualties.

Noting that the future configuration of the African Union Mission in Somalia, known as AMISOM, is currently under review, Mr. Swan said the UN is engaged in discussions with the Federal Government of Somalia, the African Union and key donors, on various technical aspects of its future mandate and configuration.

Progress has also been registered in implementing the Somali Transition Plan, which is key both for the Mission’s reconfiguration and for determining how quickly it will transfer responsibilities to the Somali security forces.

‘Extremely dire’ humanitarian outlook

Meanwhile, Somalia and the wider Horn of Africa region is facing one of the most severe droughts in decades.

Mr. Swan warned the Council that some 7.7 million Somalis require humanitarian assistance this year, with 4.3 million impacted by drought and more than 270,000 displaced.

According to the recently released Somalia Food Security and Nutrition Assessment, published by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), more than 1.4 million children in Somalia – nearly half of the country’s under-five population – are likely to suffer from acute malnutrition due to the ongoing drought.

A critical shortage of water has forced families to migrate to urban and peri-urban centres, adding to the 2.9 million people who were already displaced by conflict and climate change.  Since November 2021, water prices in some of the worst-affected areas have risen by as much as 72 per cent.

Warning the Council that the UN Humanitarian Response Plan for Somalia currently stands at only 2 per cent funded, the Special Representative reiterated his call on donors to increase their support.

South Sudan: Save the Children suspends work in Agok and relocates staff (16.02.2022)

Mali: The Government and the humanitarian community appeal for US$686 million for critical humanitarian aid in Mali (14.02.2022)

Ethiopia: WHO – Lack of fuel prevents distribution of critically-needed medical supplies in Tigray region (14.02.2022)

WHO has been permitted to deliver medical supplies to Tigray, Ethiopia, for the first time since July 2021, but there is no fuel to distribute them to health centres.

The supplies, which are now in storage until they can be distributed, include essential medical equipment, personal protective equipment, antibiotics, medicines for malaria and diabetes, including insulin, treatment for severe acute malnutrition, and medicines and supplies for reproductive health. Our partner, the World Food Programme (WFP), began airlifting them to Mekelle, in Tigray, on 11 February. More shipments are planned this week.

Fuel for humanitarian operations has not been allowed into Tigray since August 2021, except for two WFP trucks in November.

The lack of fuel, cash and supplies has caused humanitarian operations in Tigray to be reduced or suspended altogether, as highlighted in OCHA’s humanitarian update for Northern Ethiopia last week.

The WHO shipments, which are part of 33.5 metric tonnes of planned deliveries, still represent a small portion of what is needed. Without access to supplies, health workers are trying to continue to provide health services with almost no medicines or functioning equipment.

According to OCHA, health partners estimate the following supplies are required to meet the urgent nutrition and health needs of the people in Tigray: 2,200 metric tonnes of emergency health kits; 1.5 million doses of cholera vaccine; polio oral vaccination for 888,000 children under five years; more than 30,000 metric tonnes of nutrition supplies for the treatment of severe acute malnutrition in outpatient clinics and 100 metric tonnes for children hospitalized at stabilization centres; about 830 metric tonnes of nutrient supplements to fortify the nutrition of 1.4 million people, mainly women and children; and 15,000 metric tonnes of Vitamin A supplements.

Malnutrition rates among children and pregnant and breastfeeding women in Tigray, as well as in Amhara and Afar, remain alarmingly high. For example, nutrition screening campaigns conducted in recent months found that 71% of pregnant and breastfeeding women in Tigray were acutely malnourished. The figure in Afar was 45%, and in Amhara was 14%.

Access has been relatively easier in Amhara and Afar regions with WHO shipping 84 metric tonnes of supplies in late December 2021. WHO is planning to ship an additional 15-20 metric tonnes to Afar to meet the health needs of people recently displaced as a result of the ongoing fighting on the Tigray-Afar border.

WHO calls again for unfettered access to provide humanitarian aid in Tigray. We call for fuel to be allowed into Tigray urgently, with the support from national authorities and international partners, so that WHO and partners can meet the humanitarian needs of all Ethiopians.

Ethiopia: The PP wants to be vindicated while shifting blame on either the TPLF or the West

ADDIS ABABA– Although the terrorist TPLF clique has been waging a new round of offensive to Amhara and Afar states and obstructing humanitarian access to Tigray, the West has not yet dared to condemn the group’s belligerence, Ethiopia’s Ambassador to the United States said. In a press conference he gave recently, Ambassador Fitsum Arega stated that TPLF capitalized on the decision of the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) and allied forces not to advance to Tigray and expanded the conflict into the two neighboring states” (ABDUREZAK MOHAMMED – ‘West refuses to denounce terrorist TPLF’s latest aggression’ 12.02.2022, The Ethiopian Herald).

Today in the Ethiopian Herald there was written an article based on Ambassador Fitsum Arega’s words where the West and International Community is supposed to denounce the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), as the Tigray Defence Force (TDF) is advancing and furthering the conflict in Afar region, which it has done since the end of January 2022. As the conflict was started in November 2020. The besieged Tigray region haven’t stopped and neither have the bureaucratic hurdles for the humanitarian assistance.

We know that the Prime Minister Abiy have spoken ill of “wheat-aid” and his allies are clearly thinking the same. They are projecting everything on its enemies. They are always blaming and claiming the TDF have done the war-crimes or alleged atrocities. However, they have never accounted for their massacres, besieged region or humanitarian blockage, which the state has continued to produce through all the months of warfare in the Tigray.

That’s why these words are striking:

The West, particularly the U.S., UK, WFP, and others have turned blind eye and deaf ear to TPLF’s aggression and are not willing to denounce it despite the fact that they have ample evidence of the raid. ”It is evident that from the beginning, the TPLF has been hindering the delivery of humanitarian assistance by kidnapping aid trucks entering Tigray and looting warehouses”. Ambassador Fitsum further noted that if the West was really concerned about human rights, they would not have chosen to remain silent in the face of such abuses” (ABDUREZAK MOHAMMED – ‘West refuses to denounce terrorist TPLF’s latest aggression’ 12.02.2022, The Ethiopian Herald).

We know the state blames the TPLF for everything. They claimed the refugees going into Sudan was terrorists too at one point. Anyone who just happens to be Tigrayan is a terrorist and everyone who defends the needs of the Tigray region is a sympathizer. Therefore, no matter what you do… you will be under fire by the authorities.

With this in mind, the vilification of everyone who happens not to be them. Just shows what sorts of the efforts the government is working with. As they blame others and projects all sins upon others. We know that the ENDF and allies have looted, destroyed and burned buildings. The ENDF and the Tripartite Alliance has raped, killed and massacred civilians in the Tigray region. These has done the vile crimes, which it is putting it on the enemies.

Therefore, when the ambassador expects the West and US to blame the TPLF. The PP and the regime in Addis Ababa should look at its own actions and decisions of late. The Ethiopian government and allies needs to be held accountable for their war-crimes, choices of man-made famine and starvation of civilians. While the TDF and their allies should be held accountable as well, but it all should be investigated by a third party to ensure the truth and due process of the possible criminal actions. This is something the regime doesn’t want and we know the Federal Government will not accept this, because the state will not implicate itself, but rather shift blame.

In a war, usually both parties violates rights and misuse power. The TDF and other allies has possibly violated international war and the Geneva convention. The same can easily be assessed by a third party and such can also be said about the Tripartite Alliance. Therefore, the Ethiopian government and its allies should care about this. Especially, if they believe everything they claim the TPLF and TDF has done, which we know isn’t true. However, I wouldn’t be shocked if they have done something wrong as well. Nevertheless, the Tripartite Alliance has the power of the state, they have international support and financial muscles to boost the war effort in Tigray.

So, the blunt of the blame and use of state to own cause of consolidating power. The PM and the Addis Ababa regime should answer for their crimes as well. They are a party and cannot only put it on others. Like they are doing here to vindicate themselves. While never ever taking anything to account. That has been done since the beginning… Peace.

Ethiopia: Tigray External Affairs Office – Statement on the UN’s Explanation for the Suspension of Humanitarian Aid Delivery into Tigray (12.02.2022)

Ethiopia: National Council of Eritrean Americans (NCEA) – NCEA Statement on the ill-informed US House Foreign Affairs Bill (11.02.2022)