Ethiopian Region of Tigray at 'Serious Risk' of Famine, Warns Top UN Official
Voice of America
A senior UN official warned the Security Council on Tuesday that urgent measures are needed to avoid famine in the war-torn region of Tigray in Ethiopia, in a briefing seen by AFP.
"There is a serious risk of famine if assistance is not scaled up in the next two months," wrote Mark Lowcock, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. More than six months after Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed launched what he termed a "rapid" military operation, the fighting and abuses continue in Tigray, where the specter of a famine has been hovering for several months. "Concrete measures are urgently needed to break the vicious cycle between armed conflict, violence and food insecurity," said Lowcock in his two-and-a-half page note.This handout photo taken June 9, 2024, and provided by the South Korean Defense Ministry shows unidentified objects believed to be North Korean trash from balloons that crossed the inter-Korea border, on a street in Seoul. A North Korean military guard post, top, and South Korean post, bottom, are seen from Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, May 31, 2024.
A textbook is seen on a high school student's desk during a philosophy class at the Averroes school, France's biggest Muslim educational institution that has lost its state funding, Lille, France, March 19, 2024. Middle school students, some wearing a hijab, listen to teacher Ilyas Laarej during an Islamic ethics class at the Averroes school, France's biggest Muslim educational institution that has lost its state funding, Lille, France, March 19, 2024. High school student Noha Fouad and her friend walks toward a classroom and in front of a banner that says "Ramadan Kareem" in the courtyard of the Averroes school, Lille, France, March 19, 2024. A middle school student scribbles on a piece of paper during an Islamic ethics class at the Averroes school, France's biggest Muslim educational institution that has lost its state funding, Lille, France, March 19, 2024. Students wearing abayas put their shoes back on as they prepare to leave the prayer room at the Averroes school, France's biggest Muslim educational institution that has lost its state funding, Lille, France, March 19, 2024.
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