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UNOG Bi-weekly press briefing Tigray Crises - UNHCR/OCHA 05 February 2021
Humanitarians renew appeals for aid access to all areas in Ethiopia’s wartorn Tigray region
The UN renewed appeals on Friday for humanitarian access to all areas of Ethiopia’s troubled Tigray region to help people displaced fighting, forcing the most desperate to eat leaves to survive.
The call by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) comes three months since heavy fighting began between Government troops and forces loyal to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) in the northern region.
Full access must be granted now, to prevent things getting even worse, said UNHCR spokesperson Babar Baloch.
“The situation is extremely grave in Tigray and hundreds of thousands of people need life-saving assistance. Eritrean refugees, many of whom have been caught in the crossfire, especially when we look at the two Eritrean refugee camps in, in the northern part of Tigray.”
High-level efforts to avert a humanitarian disaster in Tigray have included a visit by UN refugee agency chief Filippo Grandi earlier this week, when he met Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, among others.
Mr. Grandi also spoke to refugees from Mai Aini camp in the south of Tigray region, as well as some of the 4,000 others who had arrived from Hitsats and Shimelba camps, two camps in northern Tigray where access has not been obtained.
“Some said they had resorted to eat leaves because there was no other food available,” Mr. Baloch said. “They also spoke about infiltration of armed actors in the camps, of killings, abductions and also some forced returns to Eritrea at the hands of Eritreans forces present in the area.”
Mr. Baloch explained that since January, UNHCR workers had been able to return to the two camps in the south of Tigray “but we have had no access to the two camps in the northern parts. We estimate that some 15-20,000 refugees from those two camps are dispersed in areas where we do not have access.”
Echoing concerns for the wider population in Tigray, OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke described needs on the ground as “dire and growing for about 2.3 million people” – including those who needed help before the conflict.
“Three months into the conflict in Tigray in northern Ethiopia, the humanitarian response remains severely constrained and inadequate. And the main reason for that is simply that we cannot reach most of the people in need and also that we have not received the clearances yet to move the necessary staff into Tigray in the first place.”
For the time being, “access remains for the most part limited to people living in the towns along the main roads from the regional capital Mekelle towards Shire, which are controlled by federal government forces,” Mr. Laerke added.
The OCHA official explained that it was “less of a problem” to deliver food aid which is being warehoused in Mekelle. “The problem is…access both to get into Tigray in the first place and also getting from Mekelle into, into the countryside where most of the people in need are.”
- Exterior wide shot, Palais des Nations flag alley, nations’ flags flying, a cloudy day.
- Wide shot, podium with speakers in a near-empty Room XIV in line with COVID-19 distancing measures, Palais des Nations.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Babar Baloch, spokesperson for UNHCR (UN Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees): “The situation is extremely grave in Tigray and hundreds of thousands of people need life-saving assistance. Eritrean refugees, many of whom have been caught in, in the, in the crossfire, especially when we look at the two Eritrean refugee camps in, in the northern part of Tigray.”
- Medium-wide shot, podium with speakers, Room XIV, Palais des Nations.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Babar Baloch, spokesperson for UNHCR (UN Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees): “Some said they had resorted to eat leaves because there was no other food available. They also spoke about infiltration of armed actors in the camps, of killings, abductions and also some forced returns to Eritrea at the hands of Eritreans forces present in the area.”
- Medium shot, TV broadcasting, Room XIV, Palais des Nations.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Babar Baloch, spokesperson for UNHCR (UN Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees): “Since January, we have been able to return to the two camps in the south, but we have had no access to the two camps in the northern parts of Tigray. We estimate that some 15-20,000 refugees from those two camps are dispersed in areas where we do not have access.”
- Close-up, hands writing, Room XIV, Palais des Nations.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Jens Laerke, spokesperson for OCHA (UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs): “The needs of served on the ground are dire and growing for about 2.3 million people, that includes those who needed assistance before the conflict. But access remains for the most part limited to people living in the towns along the main roads from the regional capital Mekelle towards Shire, which are controlled by federal government forces.”
- Medium shot, UN staff member typing on phone, Room XIV, Palais des Nations
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Jens Laerke, spokesperson for OCHA (UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs): “Cargo is less of a problem coming in, we have seen food coming in in recent times and that is being warehoused in Mekelle. The, the problem is, as you mentioned, access both to get into Tigray in the first place and also getting from Mekelle into, into the countryside where most of the people in need are.”
- Medium wide shot, podium with speakers, side shot, Room XIV, Palais des Nations.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Jens Laerke, spokesperson for OCHA (UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs): “Three months into the conflict in Tigray in northern Ethiopia, the humanitarian response remains severely constrained and inadequate. And the main reason for that is simply that we cannot reach most of the people in need and also that we have not received the clearances yet to move the necessary staff into Tigray in the first place.”
- Medium close-up shot, Jens Laerke, spokesperson for OCHA, talking, Room XIV, Palais des Nations.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Jens Laerke, spokesperson for OCHA (UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs): “As humanitarians, we need access everywhere regardless of who control the area.”
- Medium shot, journalist typing on phone, Room XIV, Palais des Nations.
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As world’s water reserves change, countries must prepare for a new reality: WMO
New data showing that rivers were at their lowest level for decades last year provides further evidence that the climate crisis is real and countries must act immediately to protect themselves from the increasing threat to communities and livelihoods, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday.
The key findings from WMO’s State of Global Water Resources 2025 report covering the hydrological cycle and extreme events in the five-year period to last year:
- 2025 was one of driest years for river discharge in 35 years
- Past seven years have seen abnorfmal river flows
- Water storage on Earth’s land surface has decreased in past decade
- Widespread glacier loss across all regions for fourth consecutive year
- Asia and Africa are regions most affected by water-related disasters
- Water data availability has improved, but gaps remain in hard-hit areas
Highlighting the long-term decline in the Earth’s freshwater storage and glacier melt, WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo explained that the planet’s water reserves used to act as a planetary “savings account” that absorbed the occasional dry season, avoiding a water crisis. “One of the central stories of the 2025 report is what is happening to that savings account? And the simple answer is that we are depleting it,” she told journalists in Geneva.
Groundwater reserves are equally stretched and have been in decline since 2014, WMO’s report states, with nearly two-thirds of monitored wells worldwide showing levels lower than the historical norm and indicating a shift “further toward deficit…not recovery”.
“At the same time, we are seeing more water-related disasters,” Ms. Saulo said, while also stressing that the currently strengthening El Niño “will increase the risk of drought in some areas, and flooding in others”.
Glaciers disappearing
In 2025, for the fourth consecutive year, every major glaciated region on Earth lost ice mass, leading to short-term hazards including floods and long-term water insecurity, according to WMO.
Responding to a question about whether the changing global water cycle might have contributed to the deadly Nepal-China flooding disaster, Ms. Saulo explained that melting ice and rock was just one factor in the chain of events that ultimately sent a massive and deadly wall of water and debris downstream on 26 August, killing at least 1,367 people.
“You asked if it could happen again? Absolutely; the problem in this region is that there’s 63,700 glaciers at the last count,” she told a Press Conference in Geneva. “Even if you’re looking with remote sensing with satellites at these glaciers, you might see some faults, you might see some slight shifting, that does not mean necessarily catastrophic collapse. So, in order to plan for this, it’s very, very difficult. But the international community is looking very hard at ways in which we can bring people together to solve some of these monitoring issues.”
Data indicates that glaciers shrank between 2023 and 2025 with cumulative losses of 1,400 gigatonnes of water – or about one third of annual fresh water needs.
Every major glacier region on Earth lost ice for the fourth consecutive year.
“All 19 glacier regions around the globe lost ice; in Central Asia, Iceland, the Russian Arctic and western Canada and the United States, it was among the three worst years on record,” said Wayne Jenkinson, WMO’s Director of Hydrology and Cryosphere.
Some regions with smaller glaciers such as Central Europe, the Caucasus, the western Canada and the United States may already have reached “peak water”, Mr. Jenkinson warned.
“After this point, the glacier gives less meltwater each year simply because there is less ice left to melt. That matters for every community downstream that relies on water during hot, dry summers,” he explained.
Narelle van der Wel, WMO’s Head of Cryosphere Monitoring, Predictions and Services, stressed that while some further glacier loss is unavoidable, the eventual scale of the decline is not predetermined.
“Some glacier loss is inevitable, but total loss of glaciers is not yet inevitable,” she said, pointing to emissions reductions as central to limiting future losses.
Preparing for moving baselines
The report does not attribute every observed change to climate change alone. WMO says pressure on water resources and natural variability also contribute.
Mr. Jenkinson said governments need to prepare for “moving baselines” as historical patterns become less reliable.
“The situation 30 years ago is not where we are today,” he said. Countries, he added, need to prepare “for those changes that have really already arrived”.
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