Calling it the “worst humanitarian crisis in the world”, with 6 million people unable to access basic services, Tedros questioned in an emotional appeal why the situation is not getting the same attention as the Ukraine conflict.
The World Health Organization’s director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has suggested that racism is behind a lack of international attention being paid to the plight of civilians in Ethiopia’s war-shattered Tigray region.
Calling it the “worst humanitarian crisis in the world”, with 6 million people unable to access basic services, Tedros questioned in an emotional appeal why the situation is not getting the same attention as the Ukraine conflict.
“Maybe the reason is the colour of the skin of the people,” Tedros, who is from Tigray, told a virtual media briefing on Wednesday. In April this year at a briefing, he questioned whether “black and white lives” in emergencies worldwide are given equal attention.
WHO emergencies director Mike Ryan also hit out at an apparent shortage of concern about the drought and famine unfolding in the Horn of Africa, and the ensuing health crisis.
“No one seems to give a damn about what’s happening in the Horn of Africa,” said Ryan, speaking at a virtual media briefing on Wednesday.
The WHO called for $123.7 million to tackle the health problems resulting from growing malnutrition in the region, where around 200 million people live and millions are going hungry.
Less time to read?
Try Quickreads
-
Monkeypox cases jumped 20% last week to 35,000 across 92 countries: WHO
More than 35,000 cases of monkeypox have now been reported from 92 countries and territories, with almost 7,500 cases being registered last week – a 20 per cent increase, said World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday. Ghebreyesus said there has been a total of 12 monkeypox-related deaths across the world so far.
-
Climate crisis: China hit by worst heat wave in decades
A scorching heat wave, the worst in six decades, sweeping China has dried up rivers and reservoirs, threatened crop yields and forced industries to shut down and ration electricity. One of the regions hit badly by the heat wave is China’s southwestern Sichuan province, which has shut down factories for six days to ease a crippling power shortage.
-
Rishi Sunak losing UK prime minister race, trails Liz Truss by 32 points
Liz Truss led Rishi Sunak by 32 points in the latest survey of UK Tory members by the ConservativeHome website, suggesting she remains on track to win the race to succeed Boris Johnson as prime minister. Some 60% of the 961 Tory members polled by the influential website said they favored Truss to become the Conservative Party’s new leader, while just 28% backed Sunak, ConservativeHome said on Wednesday.
-
China wants military outposts in Pakistan to safeguard its investments
Having made significant investments in the conflict-prone Pakistan-Afghanistan region as part of its hugely ambitious Belt and Road Initiative, China is planning to protect its interests in the two countries by stationing its own forces in specially created outposts, according to top diplomatic sources. Pakistan, where according to some estimates the Chinese investments have risen above USD 60 billion, is largely dependent on China not only for financial but also military and diplomatic support.
-
Republican leader who voted for Trump’s impeachment loses Wyoming primary
Cheney will now be forced from Congress at the end of her third and final term in January. Far, US President Donald Trump’s has helped install loyalists who parrot his conspiracy theories in general election matchups from Pennsylvania to Arizona. With Cheney’s loss, Republicans who voted to impeach Trump are going extinct. Democrats across America, major donors among them, took notice. Trump earned nearly 70% of the vote in 2016 and 2020.