USAID Administrator Samantha Power again pushes for an end to “atrocities and famine” in Tigray

Simon Ateba( Chief White House Correspondent )

Simon Ateba is Chief White House Correspondent for Today News Africa covering President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, U.S. government, UN, IMF, World Bank and other financial and international institutions in Washington and New York.

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Samantha Power on Monday one more time pushed for an end to “atrocities” and “famine” in Ethiopia’s Tigray region.

The latest push to do more about the lingering crisis in Ethiopia took place when Power met with the new United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths.

The United Nations, the United States and others have said hundreds of thousands of people in the region remain at increased risk of famine, and have been calling for unhindered humanitarian access into the region.

But those calls have been ignored by the administration of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali, a 2019 Nobel Peace Prize winner who has pursued war and death rather than peace and stability in the Horn of Africa.

“Administrator Power and Under-Secretary-General Griffiths discussed the urgent need for unhindered humanitarian access to address likely famine, as well as coordinated efforts to end atrocities and ensure respect for human rights, in the Tigray region of Ethiopia,” USAID Spokesperson Rebecca Chalif said in a statement.

Congratulating Under-Secretary-General Griffiths as he begins his new role, Power conveyed the U.S. Government’s continued commitment to principled humanitarian action and continued partnership with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Chalif said.

She added that both also discussed the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Yemen and how critical it is for Saudi Arabia to lift the blockade on fuel imports into the Hodeidah Port to ensure Yemenis have access to basic services and humanitarian assistance. 

“Administrator Power and Under-Secretary-General Griffiths noted their growing concern on several other humanitarian crises around the world, especially the need for increased donor support for the humanitarian response in Central America, the raging COVID pandemic in Burma that has been exacerbated by the actions of the military regime, the need for continued vigilance to ensure access to those in need in Syria, and the deteriorating security conditions in Afghanistan,” Chalif said.