LONDON (Reuters) – World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has hinted that racism is at the root of the international community’s lack of attention to the plight of civilians in Ethiopia’s war-torn Tigray region.
Calling the situation “the world’s worst humanitarian crisis”, with 6 million people unable to access basic services and care, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus asked in an emotional appeal why the situation is not receiving the same attention than the conflict in Ukraine.
“Maybe the reason is the color of people’s skin,” he said, himself a native of Tigray, during a virtual press briefing on Wednesday. In April, he asked during a press briefing whether “black and white lives” in emergencies around the world received the same attention.
WHO Emergency Operations Director Mike Ryan has also railed against the apparent lack of interest in the drought and famine in the Horn of Africa, and the resulting health crisis. .
“Nobody seems to care what’s going on in the Horn of Africa,” Mike Ryan said during a virtual press briefing on Wednesday.
The WHO has requested 123.7 million dollars (121.7 million euros) to tackle health problems resulting from malnutrition in the region, where around 200 million people live and millions of people suffer from famine.
(Report Jennifer Rigby; French version Elena Vardon, edited by Matthieu Protard)
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