ADDIS ABABA, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- The President of International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Peter Maurer, has called for humanitarian support along with long-term development solution to deal with the situations of people in the Horn of Africa, where peoples' lives are affected by climate change and violence.
The ICRC President on Wednesday wrapped up his visit in the region, where he said millions of people are trapped in near-constant crisis as the combination of droughts, floods, and violence force people from their homes and erode already-fragile livelihoods.
After meeting with officials at the Peace and Security Council of the African Union (AU) on Thursday in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, Maurer told Xinhua that he had seen on the ground that communities in the region, despite different situations from country to country, are affected by climate change as well as war and violence.
"When I see communities on the ground, they reflect on the impact of climate change on their lives, and the impact of war and violence on their lives."
"When I was in Jigjiga, in Ethiopia talking to communities, it was interesting to hear them about the conflict, which has destroyed infrastructure, which has affected communities, which has led them to displacement, and on the one hand see how the dynamics of climate change accentuate and exacerbate some of the humanitarian challenges. That is the phenomenon which makes humanitarian response more complex."
The ICRC president has underlined the need to address both humanitarian and development issues in a coordinated manner.
Reiterating that five out of the 21 most vulnerable countries in the world to climate change are here in the region, Maurer said the local communities, especially, women, children, and the elderly would be affected most by the problem exacerbated with war and violence.
"But, we look at some of the most important displacement crisis worldwide is happening in the Horn of Africa. This affects women and children."
By the way, the elderly who are also living outside of the general production process, are affected heavily, he said.
Emphasizing on the complexity of humanitarian works in the region, the ICRC president has called for coordinated efforts from both humanitarian and development actors to deal with the different situations in the region.
"So, again for humanitarian activities means, we cannot just distribute foods and water; we have to look at schools; kids must not be out of schools for years. We have to look at health systems and health services to be provided for whole communities," he noted.
In its statement on Wednesday, ICRC said thousands of people are displaced each day from their homes by climate shocks or violence. Preliminary data from the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre suggest that, on average, the number of people displaced from their homes each day in 2019 was 3,715 in Ethiopia and 1,860 in Somalia.
The region started 2019 in drought and then experienced floods in May. It then swung back to drought before torrential rains in October and November unleashed the worst floods in decades.
