The Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), Amina Mohammed, does not have enough words to describe the situation of women in the conflict regions of Ethiopia. Back from a trip to Tigray, Amhara, Afar and Somalia, the diplomat denounced, Friday, February 11, the horrors inflicted on them, and demanded justice.
“Ethiopian women, at large, have been affected in ways unimaginable” and “In your worst nightmares, you cannot imagine what happened to women in Ethiopia”said the number two of the UN at a press conference, adding that during her stay she had seen victims of « famine ».
For these horrors fueled by war, “everyone is to blame” and, at the XXIth century, he “it is inadmissible that a human being can inflict (such suffering) on another”underlined Amina Mohammed, referring in particular to the fate of a young woman raped in front of her three or four-year-old son and now rejected by her husband, her family and society.
“Justice must be done”
“Justice must be served and accountability established”estimated the official, without further details on how the challenges could be exercised, in Ethiopia or via an international mechanism.
“When men go to war, they come back and they’re heroes, no matter what wounds they have, aren’t they? But for women who are hurt, hurt in unimaginable ways, they don’t emerge as heroines. They are just excluded. This must stop”asserted Amina Mohammed.
The conflict between Ethiopian government forces and Tigray rebels since November 2020 has killed thousands, been accompanied by abuses, and led hundreds of thousands of people to famine. Thursday, February 10, the United Nations announced that it had to drastically reduce its humanitarian operations in the region, due to shortages of fuel and cash.