Tigray’s al-Nejashi Mosque, one of Africa’s oldest Islamic sites, was damaged in December 2020.
Photo by Eduardo Soteras/AFP via Getty Images
Many of the artefacts Ethiopia is famous for are found in Tigray. Their continued destruction could lead to irreversible culture shock and social collapse.
Some of the ancient manuscripts Jihadists burnt in Timbuktu in 2013 during civil conflict in Mali.
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Protecting the continent’s historical artefacts requires political will from governments – and a reawakening of cultural conscience among Africans.
Ethiopian refugees fleeing the Tigray region.
Photo by Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP via Getty Images
Mental health problems are major indirect consequences of armed conflicts and can have short-term and long-term effects on people.
People receiving medical treatment at the entrance hall of Ayder Referral Hospital in Mekele, the capital of Tigray region, Ethiopia.
YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP via Getty Images
Unless special attention is given to conflict and HIV the war will undermine the achievement of the 2030 goals to end AIDS, discrimination, and new infections.
Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki (L) and Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed at an event in Ethiopia in 2018.
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The war in Tigray appears to have boosted Eritrea’s efforts at regional pre-eminence. But it could backfire.
World Health Organisation Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images
Humanitarians are stuck in a dilemma: challenging practices that cause suffering could risk access to the vulnerable people they serve.
Ethiopian Orthodox pilgrims at Lalibela, Ethiopia.
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Ethiopia’s main religions need to take an emotional distance from politics and find a neutral space so they can get moral clarity.
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Where will an end to the conflict come from?
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Unless the blockade by Ethiopia is lifted, Tigray will be in a very bad famine situation.
Internally displaced people in Tigray in April 2021.
UNICEF Ethiopia/flickr
Plus, why reusable food containers aren’t always better for the environment than disposable ones. Listen to The Conversation Weekly.
A nurse moves scrap from a damaged part of the Wukro General Hospital which was shelled, in Wukro, north of Mekele, on February 28, 2021.
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The rate and scale of the destruction of Tigray’s healthcare system is severe.
People who fled the war in Tigray gather around in a temporarily built internally displaced people.
Amanuel Sileshi/AFP via Getty Images
The biggest challenge to the health system is the war in Tigray and other insecurity all over the country. Conflict has made COVID-19 prevention and vaccination efforts impossible in many areas.
In north Ethiopia, farmers commonly use an ox-drawn single-tined plough called mahrasha.
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Due to warfare, ploughing and planting was not timely in Tigray. This may lead to a second year with failed crops.
Humanitarian agencies are often thrust into the heart of contentious crises without easy or quick solutions.
The Houthis accused the WFP of giving out expired food assistance. The UN agency delivers monthly rations or money to 10.2 million people of Yemen's 26-million population. EPA-EFE/YAHYA ARHAB
When humanitarian agencies are obliged to stop operations by political decision or because of huge physical insecurity, the poorest and most vulnerable succumb first through starvation and disease.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed arrives to cast his vote during the country’s parliamentary elections in Beshasha, Oromia, in June.
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Instead of fanning the flames, the West needs to be even-handed in bringing the warring sides to the table.
Participants and staff of MSF (Medecins Sans Frontieres) hold lights during a commemoration for victims of attacks.
EPA/SALVATORE DI NOLFI
Every aid worker lost in the crossfire of a conflict is a tragedy; when they are deliberately targeted, it is an outrage.
A crowd wait in a stadium in Jimma on June 16, 2021 for an electoral campaign rally of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
EDUARDO SOTERAS/AFP via Getty Images
In Ethiopia’s new and unsettled political space, there are issues related to the current electoral rules, the performance and strength of the opposition parties, and to campaigning.
Protesters chant “Stop the genocide in Tigray!” during a demonstration against Ethiopia’s war against Tigray regional forces on May 07, 2021 in Berlin, Germany.
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Establishing whether a genocide is happening in Ethiopia requires an independent and objective investigation – which probably won’t happen.
Survivors of the violence in Benishangul-Gumuz gather in a circle at a displaced persons camp in Chagni, Ethiopia in December 2020.
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It’s a confluence of local, regional, national and, possibly, foreign interests.
Ethiopian refugees, who fled fighting in Tigray, receive snacks at a Sudanese border reception centre in November 2020.
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If a country refuses, or blocks, humanitarian aid this act violates international law.