WHO head talks of ‘personal pain’ over Ethiopia’s Tigray conflict

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it has been ‘very difficult’ as he has family members in the area he is unable to reach due to fighting

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization, attends a session on the coronavirus disease outbreak WHO/Handout via REUTERS

People who fled the conflict in Ethiopia's Tigray region, stand on a hill top over looking Umm Rakouba refugee camp in Qadarif, eastern Sudan. AP

Tigrayan women who fled the conflict in Ethiopia's Tigray region, pray during Sunday Mass at a church, near Umm Rakouba refugee camp in Qadarif, eastern Sudan. AP

A Tigray woman who fled the conflict in Ethiopia's Tigray region holds her malnourished and severely dehydrated baby as nurses give him IV fluids, at the Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) clinic at Umm Rakouba refugee camp in Qadarif. AP

Men who fled the conflict in Ethiopia's Tigray region watch the news on a television, at Umm Rakouba refugee camp in Qadarif, eastern Sudan. AP

Refugees who fled the conflict in Ethiopia's Tigray region play volleyball at Um Rakuba refugee camp in Qadarif. AP

A man reacting as he stands near a ditch in the outskirts of Mai Kadra, Ethiopia, that is filled with more than 20 bodies of victims that were allegedly killed in a massacre on November 9, 2020. AFP

People who fled the conflict in Ethiopia's Tigray region, arrive on a bus at Umm Rakouba refugee camp in Qadarif, eastern Sudan. AP

Refugees who fled the conflict in Ethiopia's Tigray region ride a bus going to the Village 8 temporary shelter, near the Sudan-Ethiopia border. AP

Refugees who fled the conflict in Ethiopia's Tigray region carry their belongings off a boat after arriving on the banks of the Tekeze River on the Sudan-Ethiopia border. AP

Refugees who fled the conflict in Ethiopia's Tigray region arrive on the banks of the Tekeze River on the Sudan-Ethiopia border. AP

Men who fled the conflict in Ethiopia's Tigray region run to receive cooked rice from charity organization Muslim Aid, at Umm Rakouba refugee camp in Qadarif. AP

Hiwet Aregawi, 24, a Tigrayan who was allegedly attacked by the 'Fano' militia rests his wounded leg in a shelter at the Hamdeyat Transition Centre near the Sudan-Ethiopia border. AP

A woman who fled the conflict in Ethiopia's Tigray region waits to get treatment at a clinic in Umm Rakouba refugee camp in Qadarif, eastern Sudan. AP

Refugees who fled the conflict in Ethiopia's Tigray region wait to get cooked rice served by Sudanese local volunteers at Um Rakuba refugee camp in Qadarif. AP

Ethiopian women, who fled the ongoing fighting in Tigray region, are seen at the Al Fashqa refugee camp in the Sudan-Ethiopia border town of Al Fashqa. Reuters, file

In rare personal comments, World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has spoken of his "personal pain" over the "worsening" conflict raging in his home country of Ethiopia.

"In addition to Covid, 2020 has been very difficult for me because my country is in trouble," Mr Tedros told reporters in the UN health agency’s last press conference on Covid-19 of the year on Monday.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, last year's Nobel Peace Prize winner, ordered troops into the northern region of Tigray on November 4, saying the operation was in response to alleged attacks on federal army camps by the regional ruling party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front.

The fighting in Tigray has left thousands dead, according to the International Crisis Group think tank, and sent tens of thousands of refugees streaming across the border into Sudan.

Mr Tedros, the world’s highest-profile Tigrayan, told the press conference that he had many relatives in the troubled region, "including my younger brother, and I don’t know where they are."

"I have not communicated with them because communication is not there."

Ethiopia restricted media access to the conflict-hit region and Tigray was under a total communications blackout for six weeks as the conflict raged between federal and regional forces.

Mr Tedros, who for the past year has been at the forefront of efforts to co-ordinate a global response to the pandemic, said the additional strain had been tough personally.

"As if Covid is not enough I have that personal pain also," he said.

"I worry about the whole country," he said.

"I cannot worry about my younger brother or my relatives alone because the situation is worsening."

Last month the Ethiopian government accused Mr Tedros, who from 2005-2012 served as health minister under former TPLF leader Meles Zenawi, of lobbying for and seeking to arm the region’s leaders.

Mr Tedros denied those accusations in a tweet last month, saying he had seen the destructive nature of war as a child, and had "used that first-hand experience to always work for peace."

"There have been reports suggesting I am taking sides in this situation. This is not true," he wrote.

"I want to say that I am on only one side, and that is the side of peace."

During the press conference on Monday, Mr Tedros acknowledged that worrying about both the pandemic and the conflict in Ethiopia "has been tough".

But he ended his comments on an upbeat note, voicing joy at becoming a grandfather two months ago.

"I worry, considering the two difficult situations that are happening, about my granddaughter, but at the same time, looking at her, I see hope."