NEW YORK (March 19, 2021) – “UNICEF remains deeply concerned about the continuing crisis in Tigray, Ethiopia, and its worrying implications for children and their access to basic social services.
“Five months since the start of the conflict, a clearer picture is emerging of killings and sexual violence against women and children in Tigray. The reported murder of at least 20 children at Maryam Dengelat Church last November will continue to haunt families and communities.
“Schools and health centers have been looted, vandalized and occupied by armed forces and groups. Organizations on the ground have reported deliberate attacks on health facilities and warned that the limited health services that are functional are unable to cope with the needs.
“According to assessments conducted at the end of February 2021, violence and looting have left nearly 60 percent of health care facilities not operational. Some 57 percent of boreholes in 13 towns surveyed are not functional and a quarter of the region’s schools have sustained damage from the conflict.
“Families continue to flee for their lives.