Umamah Bakharia

The head of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that the world has not been focusing on the conflict in the Tigray region because of skin colour.

This follows a civil war that broke out in November 2020 between Tigrayan and Ethiopian federal forces, killing many and triggering a humanitarian crisis.

Speaking to Radio Islam International, a senior analyst in Ethiopia, William Davison, says the remark of Ghebreyesus was a result of an assessment of the region.

“We can see an obvious double standard in the amount of media focus,” says Davison. However, he says that the conflict in Ukraine has more European interest, thus the focus being more on Kyiv.

“It isn’t like that crisis is ignored, there has been partly West funded humanitarian efforts, but it is a very political situation with the Tigray region largely cut out of the rest of the country and the outside,” says Davison.

Yesterday, the Tigray region had the biggest resumption of hostilities this year. “This is a sign that this is a breach of a truce,” says Davison as the region fails to reach a consensus on peace.