Yilikal, U.S. Ambassador Discuss Humanitarian Situation in Amhara Region
BAHIR DAR – United States Ambassador to Ethiopia, Geeta Pasi on Friday visited Bahir Dar where she met the newly elected President of Amhara region, Yilikal Kefale, to discuss the humanitarian situation in the region.
The visit, involving Assistant to the Administrator of USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance Sarah Charles, was aimed at discussing “the current dire humanitarian situation and plans to alleviate suffering and deliver aid and other solutions”, the US embassy said in a statement issued after the meeting.
Pasi’s visit to the Amhara region came a week after the U.S. secretary of State Antony Blinken held a “high level” meeting on the the “crisis in Ethiopia” without the presence any government representative from Ethiopia. The meeting, however, involved officials from four Western countries, the European Union and the Sudan.
The U.S. embassy said Yilikal and Pasi “discussed the needs of conflict-affected populations in Northern Amhara and humanitarian delivery constraints, with humanitarian workers”.
IC Ignored Atrocities
During the discussion, Yilkal briefed the delegation about the continued invasion the TPLF, group designated as terrorist by the parliament, has been carrying out in the regional state, according to a report State-run Ethiopian New Agency.
Apart from mass killings, he told them the destruction of government and social service delivery institutions and infrastructure by the terrorist group have exacerbated the problems and made them last long, the report says.
the region’s president disclosed that many people have been displaced due to the invasion and they are in temporary shelters in Dessie, Kombolcha, Bahir Dar, Debarq, Ebnat and other places.
It is sad that the international community has so far ignored the atrocities being perpetrated on civilians in the region, Yilkal said, urging them to support for the innocent victims of the conflict.
‘U.S. Committed’
The US Embassy said its delegation visited members of the Zenzelma IDP center and heard firsthand accounts and concerns of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the region.
Ambassador Pasi’s planned trip to Tigray for the second time has not yet been realized “but remains a top priority”, the U.S. embassy said.
She recently visited Tigray as well as Somali region in the past months “to assess U.S. government activities and to advocate for maximal support for those in need”, according to the embassy.
“The United States is committed to helping people all over Ethiopia,” it said adding Washington “is committed to providing life-saving assistance to those in need”.
Featured Image Caption: U.S. Ambassador Pasi and Assistant to the Administrator of USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance Charles conferring with President of Amhara region Yilkal on Friday, October 22, 2021.
