UNITED NATIONS – The UN Security Council called for an end to the intensifying and expanding conflict in Ethiopia Friday, and for unhindered access for humanitarian aid to tackle the world´s worst hunger crisis in a decade in the war-torn Tigray region.
The UN´s most powerful body expressed serious concern about the impact of the conflict on “the stability of the country and the wider region,” and called on all parties to refrain “from inflammatory hate speech and incitement to violence and divisiveness.”
The press statement was approved by the 15 council members the day after the first anniversary of the war in the northern Tigray region that has killed thousands of people and displaced millions.
It was only the council´s second statement on the conflict, and the first to address the worsening conflict.
“The Security Council breaks six months of silence and speaks again with one united voice on the deeply concerning situation in Ethiopia,” said Ireland´s UN Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason according to AP.
“For the first time, the Council clearly calls for a cessation of hostilities. We believe this should happen immediately and that all civilians must be protected.”
The statement was drafted by Ireland, Kenya, Niger, Tunisia and St. Vincent and The Grenadines. Those countries and the United States had called for an open Security Council meeting on Ethiopia on Friday, but it was postponed until early next week, probably Monday. Diplomats said African Union representatives weren’t available to participate so the meeting was delayed.
The council called on the parties “to put an end to hostilities and to negotiate a lasting cease-fire, and for the creation of conditions for the start of an inclusive Ethiopian national dialogue to resolve the crisis and create the foundation for peace and stability throughout the country.”
The Tigray forces say they are pressuring Ethiopia´s government to lift a deadly months-long blockade on their region of around 6 million people, where basic services have been cut off and humanitarian food and medical aid are denied.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said last month that at least 5.2 million people in the region need humanitarian assistance including at least 400,000 “living in famine-like conditions.” Child malnutrition levels are now at the same level as they were at the start of the 2011 famine in Somalia, he warned.
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