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Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
Photo: Johanna Geron/AP
With regard to the Tigray crisis in Ethiopia, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has accused the international community of racism.
The worst humanitarian crisis in the world does not receive the same international attention as the Ukraine war.
"Maybe the reason is people's skin color," said Tedros, who hails from the Tigray region, at a virtual media briefing.
Back in April, Ghebreyesus said he didn't know if the world really paid equal attention to black and white lives.
WHO Emergency Director Mike Ryan made a similar statement, according to Reuters.
Nobody seems to care what's happening in the Horn of Africa, Ryan said.
An armed conflict between insurgents and the army triggered a severe humanitarian crisis in the Tigray region.
According to the UN, thousands of people have been killed and more than six million people need help.
The WHO is demanding more than $123 million from the world community to solve Ethiopia's health problems.
In March, the »Tigray People's Liberation Front« (TPLF) agreed to a ceasefire in the military conflict with the central government in Addis Ababa.
"The government of Tigray is committed to implementing an immediately effective cessation of hostilities," the TPLF said at the time.
The central government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed surprisingly announced an "indefinite humanitarian ceasefire" after 17 months of civil war.
dam/Reuters