The United Nations is contemplating a temporary halt to its relief operations in Ethiopia’s Amhara region.
This decision comes in light of deadly attacks on humanitarian workers in the area.
A draft proposal obtained by Reuters indicates that five aid workers have been killed in the first half of 2024.
Additionally, ten others have faced physical assaults, and eleven have been kidnapped by unidentified criminal groups.
This three-page document, marked as “internal,” states that the U.N. is “seriously considering implementing a temporary cessation of relief operations in the region.”
Humanitarian aid organizations and donors have expressed strong opposition to this move.
Sources familiar with discussions surrounding the proposal say a cessation of operations would severely impact over 2.3 million people in Amhara.
These individuals rely on food aid for survival, according to two donor nations and an NGO.
Amhara, which has a population exceeding 36 million, also serves as a critical refuge for thousands fleeing the ongoing conflict in neighboring Sudan.
The region has faced escalating violence since fighting erupted between Ethiopia’s army and Amhara Fano militiamen in July 2023.
The ongoing conflict has reportedly killed hundreds and displaced thousands, according to U.N. estimates.
The Fano militia, once allied with the army during a two-year civil war against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, now finds itself at odds with the federal government.
Relations soured between Fano and the government after the civil war, with accusations that the government is undermining Amhara’s security by disbanding its regional army.
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) drafted the proposal and shared it with the Ethiopia Humanitarian Country Team.
OCHA has declined to comment on the draft document, while spokespeople for the Ethiopian federal government and Amhara regional authorities have not responded to requests for comment.
