Top UN Humanitarian Official Visits Ethiopia
Voice of America
The top United Nations humanitarian official began his first official visit to Ethiopia Thursday amid a humanitarian crisis resulting from conflicts and natural disasters in the region.
"Humanitarian needs in the country have increased this year as a result of the armed conflicts in Tigray and Benishangul-Gumuz, intercommunal violence in parts of Afar, Somali and SNNP regions, and drought in Somali, Oromia and Afar regions,” U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths said in a statement. Griffiths is visiting Ethiopia for six days during which he is expected to meet with senior government officials and representatives of humanitarian and donor programs. According to the statement, he plans to visit the embattled northern Tigray region to hear first-hand accounts from affected civilians and to see the challenges humanitarian workers are confronted with.Marina Terishvili, whose son Giorgi was arrested following recent Georgian opposition protests against the government's decision to suspend talks on joining the European Union, poses for a picture in her house in Tbilisi, Georgia December 10, 2024. FILE - A firework explodes near police officers during a rally of opposition parties' supporters, who protest against the new government's decision to suspend the European Union accession talks and refuse budgetary grants until 2028, in Tbilisi, Georgia November 30, 2024. FILE - Police officers escort a demonstrator during a rally of opposition parties' supporters, who protest against the new government's decision to suspend the European Union accession talks and refuse budgetary grants until 2028, in Tbilisi, Georgia November 30, 2024. Member of Georgia's opposition party Coalition for Change and participant of pro-EU protests Koba Khabazi, who was injured during a recent attack of a group of masked people near the party’s office, speaks during a meeting in Tbilisi, Georgia December 10, 2024.
A man breaks the lock of a cell in the infamous Saydnaya military prison, just north of Damascus, Syria, Dec. 9, 2024. A woman examines the cells at the infamous Saydnaya military prison, just north of Damascus, Syria, on Dec. 9, 2024. Crowds are gathering to enter the prison after thousands of inmates were released following rebels' overthrow of Bashar al-Assad's regime. Men released from prison dance at the entrance of Aleppo city, on Dec. 9, 2024, as people wait for the return of relatives after the release of detainees from Syrian government prisons following the ousting of Syria's president.