By Njoki Githinji
SOLWEZI, MAY 18, 2021(CISA)– Bishop Charles Kasonde, the Chairperson of Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA) has called for humanitarian support for the people of the Catholic Eparchy of Adigrat in the conflict marred Tigray region.
The appeal, he says is in response to a request for assistance by Bishop Tesfaselassie Medhin of the Catholic Eparchy of Adigrat Abune for an urgent humanitarian assistance for the people in Tigray.
“The conflict in Tigray which ended up into military intervention has affected the entire population in the area. Bishop Medhin informed us that many people have been displaced from their homes and are forced to live in refugee camps within Ethiopia and outside the country,” Bishop Kasonde said in a May 12 statement.
He noted that the local church is already offering assistance to the victims but the gravity of the situation has overwhelmed the local church’s available resources.
“The people in the affected communities need food, medication, shelter, water, and other health and sanitary items in such a volatile environment. The church in Ethiopia and its Caritas partners are doing their best to assist the suffering communities with the meager resources they have. However, with the increasing number of needy cases the local Church is getting overwhelmed,” the bishop said.
Contributions are to be channeled to AMECEA Secretariat by June 30 2021.
The ongoing conflict in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia began early November 2020 between the Special Forces of the Tigray Regional government, and the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) aided by the Ethiopian Federal Police, regional police and gendarmerie forces of the neighboring Amhara and Afar Regions with the involvement of the Eritrean Defence Forces, causing deaths, injuries and thousands to flee to neighbouring Sudan.
