Why is the world turning its eyes from the plight of Africans, including the merciless killings in Tigray? One would have expected the African Union and other regional bodies to do more to prevent the hundreds of thousands of lives being lost in Ethiopia.
On 19 August 2022, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, announced that the humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia was worse than the one in Ukraine. But ever since Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine on 24 February, the global community has been falling over itself to find solutions to this complex, violent conflict.
Some African Union (AU) leaders have also expressed serious concerns and have become active in trying to resolve the war in Ukraine. For instance, the AU chairperson, President Macky Sall of Senegal, paid a visit to Russia, while the envoys of the two warring countries have continued to solicit support in Africa for their respective efforts.
By 14 August, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights had recorded 13,212 civilian casualties in Ukraine (5,514 killed and 7,698 injured). In Tigray, by contrast, The Globe and Mail in Canada reported in March that between 50,000 and 100,000 people had been killed,...
