The United States is continuously working to take diplomatic actions to help bring about an end to the crisis in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, said U.S. Representative to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield Tuesday.
Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield recapped the diplomatic steps that the United States has taken toward addressing the conflict in Tigray, saying at Tuesday’s briefing, “President Biden sent his own emissary to Ethiopia; Senator Coons went out to meet with and try to engage with the government on this situation.”
“Jeff Feltman has just completed a visit to Ethiopia, and I have been actively engaged on this issue here in New York, insisting that it be put on the agenda of the Security Council and successfully getting a statement out of the Security Council,” she continued.
During his visit to the region, Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa Jeffrey Feltman met with leaders of both Ethiopia and Eritrea to discuss resolving the humanitarian crisis, which cannot happen without the withdrawal of Eritrean troops from Tigray.
Eritrea has reportedly agreed to withdraw troops from the region for nearly two months now, although there has yet to be any evidence that significant steps to follow through on this process have been taken.
Millions across Tigray are currently in need of humanitarian assistance, countless families have been displaced from their homes, and numerous investigative reports have concluded the perpetration of a wide range of war crimes including indiscriminate shellings, civilian massacres, and systematic rape as a weapon of war.
“In the past five months, we have been proactively engaged on this issue and I would hope that the Ethiopian Government and the Ethiopian people are conscious of what we are doing and continue to work with us to try to find a solution to this situation,” said Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield.
As the situation in Tigray grows more and more dire and those affected grow increasingly impatient for a resolution, should the United States begin to take more aggressive diplomatic action if there continues to be no progress?
While the international community hopes that recent diplomatic discussions between the United States, Ethiopia, and Eritrea, including the special envoy’s visit to the region, will help improve the situation in Tigray, many worry that more needs to be done in order to bring about an end to the ongoing and detrimental crisis that has affected so many people.
The crisis in Tigray is not on the agenda for Wednesday’s United Nations Security Council meeting.
Noah Pitcher is a global politics correspondent for Today News Africa covering the U.S. government, United Nations, African Union, and other actors involved in international developments, political controversies, and humanitarian issues.