Select committee: International Development Committee
Conclusion 63
Tenth Report - The humanitarian situation in Tigray
Published 30 Apr 2021
Addressed to Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
International Development Committee Humanitarian crises monitoring: Ethiopia’s Tigray region All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
The UN regularly publishes and updates information on the funding needed and provided for the crisis in Tigray. In February it published a breakdown that showed that while the overall response was 71% funded, some sectors were a long way from being fully funded. For example, dedicated funding for refugees, WASH and health are, according to figure 2 below, falls short of the net requirement. The multisectoral funding is useful in covering these gaps. 135 FCDO, Ethiopia Profile, 2 September 2020, p.2 136 FCDO, Ethiopia Profile, 2 September 2020, p.2 137 The FCDO has also appointed a Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa and Red Sea, Julian Reilly 138 FCDO, Ethiopia Profile, 2 September 2020, p.2 139 HM Government, Global Britain in a competitive age: the Integrated Review of …, March 2021, p. 63 140 FCDO, Foreign Secretary statement following a meeting with the Ethiopian Deputy Prime Minister, 25 November 2020 141 Reuters, Armed group takes control of county in western Ethiopia - rights commission, 22 April 2021 The humanitarian situation in Tigray 25 Figure 2: Humanitarian response funding update Source: UN OCHA, Northern Ethiopia–Humanitarian Response Plan Funding Update, As of 16 February 2021, 22 February 2021
From: International Development Committee, Tenth Report - The humanitarian situation in Tigray, 30 April 2021
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 16 July 2021.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The Government states that it agrees with the Committee's four core areas for future action, while saying all four are "predicated on an end to fighting", and it responds to the individual recommendations with a mix of continuing action and some stated disagreement.
- On genocide, it says its "longstanding position is that any determination of genocide is an issue for competent courts, rather than governments", and that its focus is on ending violence and protecting civilians.
- It does not accept the call for a separate atrocity prevention strategy, saying it does "not assess that a separate atrocity prevention strategy is necessary" as the work is already in existing work streams.
- It says it does "not share" the assessment that the WFP head's visit improved access, pointing to continuing problems with communications equipment and travel approvals.
- On reconstruction, it says it is "too early for detailed reconstruction planning" but that some initial consideration of recovery planning "will commence at an early stage". On funding, it cites £47.7m to the Tigray response and says it keeps support under review.