According to World Health Organization (WHO) chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus the world does not give equal attention to the crisis of black and white people, with just a “fraction” of attention given to Ukraine given elsewhere.
He tapped upon the conscious by questioning whether “the world really gives equal attention to Black and White lives,” let alone the fact that the ongoing crisis in countries like Ethiopia, Syria and Yemen have catered by only a proportion of global attention given to Ukraine at present.
“I need to be blunt and honest that the world is not treating the human race the same way. Some are more equal than others. And when I say this, it pains me. Because I see it. Very difficult to accept, but it is happening,” he added.
The list of humanitarian crises going on simultaneously-
- As the United Nations has mentioned, hundreds of thousands of people are at risk of starvation in Tigray. People have been facing fuel shortages and a lack of basic services like electricity and telecommunications, for months now.
- A 17-month long conflict has forced two million people from their homes, in northern Ethiopia, as rightly mentioned by the United Nations.
- Yemen is considered the world’s worst humanitarian disaster by the United Nations. Due to the war in Ukraine, Yemen’s food prices have already doubled, and its supply of essentials has been disrupted, making Yemenis even more vulnerable.
- The UN says that more than 23 million people need humanitarian assistance to survive, in Afghanistan.
- A prolonged Civil War going on for the past 11 years in Syria has resulted in the death of around half a million people and has displaced millions of lives.