Ethiopian fight’s impact on women ‘unimaginable’

UNITED NATIONS – Fresh off a visit to conflict-torn regions of Ethiopia, UN Deputy Secretary General Amina Mohammed described the “unimaginable” horrors women have faced, and called for justice and accountability.

In a press conference recapping her trip to Ethiopia’s Tigray, Amhara, Afar and Somali regions, the UN number two described an instance when a woman had been raped in front of her young child, and then was spurned by her husband, family and society. “Ethiopian women, writ large, were affected in a way that is unimaginable,” said Mohammed.

The conflict between the Ethiopian government and Tigrayan rebels started in November 2020 and has left thousands dead, while according to the UN hundreds of thousands have been pushed into famine.

“In your worst nightmares, you cannot imagine what has happened to the women in Ethiopia,” Mohammed said, adding that she also saw widespread suffering due to famine. “There is everyone to blame” for these war-fueled horrors and in the 21st century “it’s unacceptable that one human being would do that to another,” she argued.

“Justice and accountability have to be had,” said the former Nigerian minister, without specifying what formal actions could be taken. “When men go to war, they come back and they’re heroes, doesn’t matter any injury that they have, right?” asked Mohammed. “But women have been injured, injured in a way that is unimaginable, and yet they’re not coming back heroes. They’re just outcast. That has to stop.”

According to reports, fuel and cash shortages have forced humanitarian operations to a virtual standstill in Ethiopia’s war-hit Tigray region, the UN’s emergency response agency OCHA said. The grinding 15-month conflict between Ethiopian government forces and Tigrayan rebels has left thousands dead and, according to the United Nations, driven hundreds of thousands to the brink of starvation. Tigray itself has for months been subject to what the UN says is a de-facto blockade, and the United States has accused the Ethiopian government of blocking aid, which in turn has blamed the rebels for the obstructions.

Fresh fighting in the neighbouring region of Afar has also disrupted access to emergency supplies, with no deliveries since December 15 along the main aid corridor running from Afar’s capital Semera to Mekele, Tigray’s capital.

With input from AFP