The United Nations' first chartered ship carrying Ukrainian grain, which had been sitting in blockaded silos as a result of Russia's full-scale invasion, set sail on August 16. Free passage of this shipment, destined for Ethiopia, followed concerted pressure by African governments on Russia as well as UN-led negotiations. But diplomatic muscle, including by African countries, is needed over the Ethiopian government's almost two-year-long chokehold on humanitarian assistance to the beleaguered Tigray region. Otherwise, some of the Ethiopians most at risk of hunger are unlikely to benefit.
Ethiopia is one of six countries the UN has singled out for having people at risk of starvation. Millions in the country's south and east are grappling with alarming levels of hunger due to one of the worst droughts in decades. And communities in conflict-affected areas in the country's north rely on humanitarian assistance. But it is in the Tigray region where a severe starvation crisis has persisted for over a year and could be reversed through government actions.
Since the outbreak of war in Tigray in November 2020, Ethiopian forces and their allies have frequently violated the laws of war. They pillaged and targeted homes and civilian infrastructure -- which Tigrayan forces would later replicate in other regions -- while shutting off basic services and severely obstructing aid to civilians caught up in the fighting. Then the authorities imposed an effective siege on the entire region, keeping out virtually all humanitarian assistance for civilians in violation of Ethiopian domestic law, international human rights, and humanitarian law.
For the first eight months of the conflict, Ethiopian forces and their allies pillaged businesses, hospitals, banks, livestock, and harvests, leaving the region dependent on assistance. The impact of this destruction has been devastating. It has prevented people from getting healthcare, food, and other basic services, and stymied the recovery of a health system broken by the conflict. For months, federal and regional forces blocked off the roads, making it nearly impossible for private actors or humanitarian agencies to carry in medical supplies or food. Supplies decreased to alarming levels.
We spoke to doctors in February who had treated dozens of survivors of a deadly drone strike without intravenous fluids or protective gloves. A journalist who traveled to Tigray in late May and early June told us he saw "hunger everywhere." In August, the UN warned that one out of three children under the age of 5 is are acutely malnourished in Tigray.
Since the Ethiopian government declared a humanitarian truce in late March, humanitarian convoys previously blocked from entering Tigray have finally been making it into the region. But what was getting in doesn't come close to matching the mounting needs of a vulnerable population. With fuel and cash flows stymied, and the government still keeping the banks closed and telecommunications shut off, aid organizations are struggling to save lives.
The resumption of fighting in northern Ethiopia on August 24 puts aid agencies' efforts at further risk. A UN spokesperson noted that Tigrayan fighters entered a UN warehouse in Tigray's capital, Mekelle, and seized 12 fuel tankers intended for humanitarian use. An airstrike in Mekelle on August 26 reportedly struck a kindergarten and killed at least seven people, including children.
The pillage of limited fuel supplies will only harm Tigrayans who are already suffering the effects of the conflict and the siege. Most people in Tigray can't buy the food that is available because the cost of staples continues to soar. A resident of the town of Shire said that the cost of teff, a grain that is one of the country's main staple foods, had tripled over the last five months.
The UN Security Council sought to tackle broad restrictions on aid and essential goods in the conflicts in Yemen and South Sudan by passing a resolution in 2018 condemning the unlawful denial of lifesaving humanitarian aid and essential services as a strategy of warfare. In the hope of preventing this elsewhere, the Council resolution pointedly calls on the UN secretary-general to swiftly inform the Council when the risk of conflict-induced famine arises.
And yet, faced with flagrant violations of the resolution, not only has the Security Council never sanctioned those most responsible for unlawful actions during the conflict, but they also haven't been able to even place the ongoing siege in Tigray on the Security Council's formal agenda.
Concerted African diplomacy around the Ukraine grain crisis and blockade is in stark contrast with the role played on Ethiopia by the three elected members representing the African Union on the Security Council - Gabon, Ghana, and Kenya - known as the "A3/" The A3 have repeatedly stalled any public discussion on Ethiopia allowing this blatant disregard for international norms to persist .
In the meantime, Ethiopia and its regional and international partners have allowed access to necessities to become a political bargaining chip. Ethiopia's state minister for foreign affairs recently said that the beginning of peace talks would be a precondition for the restoration of basic services, whereas Tigrayan authorities have asked for services to be restored before talks begin. With the resumption of fighting between the parties, it's even more essential for the world to make clear that ceasefires and access to aid must be decoupled.
So, what's to be done?
The UN Security Council, starting with the A3, and the African Union need to act now. They should publicly call on Ethiopia to completely lift its chokehold on desperately needed humanitarian aid and its shutdown of basic services and insist that warring parties, including the Tigrayan forces, abide by international law and facilitate assistance to those in need without any preconditions or delay. The Security Council should hold a public debate to address conflict-induced hunger and place Ethiopia on the Council's regular agenda.
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It is important to ensure that such governmental practices are not normalized. Those responsible for blocking food, fuel, and medicine, and using basic services as a bargaining chip should be held accountable. Those using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare by impeding relief supplies or depriving civilians of objects indispensable for their survival can be prosecuted for war crimes. For this to happen, continuing the work of the United Nations International Commission on Human Rights in Ethiopia, which is up for renewal by the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, will also be critical.
African states and UN engagement around Ukraine have demonstrated what diplomacy can deliver. Watching ships carrying grain depart from Ukraine's ports represents the best kind of dividend of that approach. But we've also seen the opposite: a largely forgotten crisis in Ethiopia where the weaponized starvation of an entire region hasn't generated the same attention. Unless the international community rallies to ensure everyone in Tigray has full access to humanitarian assistance, when the grain shipment arrives in Ethiopia, it may not get to one of the populations in greatest need. If that's the ultimate result, the grain deal will be a hollow victory.
Kenneth Roth Former Executive Director
