Push for humanitarian access to Ethiopia intensifies as federal government flip-flops

Samantha Power, administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), will travel to Ethiopia to press for unhindered humanitarian access to Tigray amid the armed conflict.

CAPE TOWN, July 30 (ANA) – Samantha Power, administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), will travel to Ethiopia to press for unhindered humanitarian access to Tigray amid the armed conflict.

USAID said on Thursday that the diplomatic visit, which includes supporting Sudan’s transition to civilian-led democracy, will occur between July 31 and August 4.

Power was the youngest-ever US ambassador to the UN and a Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the book “A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide”, according to Forbes.

“Administrator Power will meet with humanitarian assistance partners and observe how USAID-provided food is stored and prepared for delivery throughout Ethiopia, including to the Tigray region,” USAID stated.

Power’s itinerary includes discussions with the Ethiopian government for “unimpeded humanitarian access to prevent famine in Tigray and meet urgent needs in other conflict-affected regions of the country”.

The Ethiopian federal government has blasted the international community for being “shockingly mute” due to its belief that the opposing side to the armed conflict, Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) is blocking humanitarian assistance from reaching those who are in need, according to a press briefing transcript of July 28 by the Office of the Prime Minister of Ethiopia.

“Instead of taking the opportunity to support Tigrayan farmers and those in need of humanitarian assistance, they have resorted to mobilising civilians as human shields and violently harassing communities,” the Office of the Prime Minister stated.

“Reports indicate that food assistance left storage for the needy in the Tigray region is being exploited by the TPLF for recruitment. Humanitarian assistance in transit to the region has also been blocked from reaching those in need by the group,” it added.

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has in the past, however, intentionally made misleading statements about the situation in Tigray.

Most notably, Abiy previously denied the presence of neighbouring Eritrean forces in Tigray, and has denied that there is famine in Tigray.

In March, Abiy admitted for the first time that Eritrean forces had been present in Tigray after months of denial of their involvement in the conflict, the BBC reported.

Then, on June 21, Abiy “denied that there is any hunger in the northern Tigray region, where the UN says more than 350,000 people are living in conditions of famine,” according to the BBC.

Power’s visit comes after UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths began his first six-day mission to conflict-torn Ethiopia on Thursday, according to UN Ethiopia’s statement.

Ninety percent, or 5.2 million people, of Tigray’s population requires humanitarian assistance.

The UN reported in July that 400,000 were suffering from famine, with 1.8 million people on the brink of famine, Acting Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Ramesh Rajasingham said.

UN World Food Programme (WFP) chief David Beasley warned that WFP would run out of food in Tigray on Friday as convoys were stuck.

– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Yaron Blecher