Support H.R 6600 - Concerted Effort to Stop Catastrophic Famine

Your Excellency, As your constituent, I would first of all like to thank you for your continued efforts to promote peace & human rights across the world, including in Ethiopia. It is in this regard, I am writing to you today to call on you to support H.R 6600 - Ethiopia Stabilization, Peace and Democracy Act. This bill sets out clear and tangible measures critical to end the civil war, alleviate human suffering, and bring stabilization, peace and democracy in Ethiopia. The World Food Program reported, in January 2022, 83% (4.6 million people) are classified as food insecure and 37% (2 million people) are severely food insecure. Critical workers, including health professionals, still actively serving the public, are among those begging for food and aid, with some passing out from hunger even as they are trying to deliver assistance to others. According to the most recent UNOCHA report, less than 10% of the aid required has been allowed into Tigray. Although there are 11 major routes leading to Tigray, these roads have all been blocked. As noted by H.E. Samantha Power (USAID) while a lot of work has been done to distribute aid to other conflict affected regions, Tigray remains blocked. Fuel has not been allowed for the past 7 months meaning existing aid activities are prohibitively limited by depleted fuel supplies. Medicine, nutrition bars for children, medical supplies and other critical resources have also run out. Essential services such as banking, electricity and water have been cut off by the federal government for 15 months and as a result people have been unable to use their savings. All of these are happening in tandem with indiscriminate, relentless and aggressive drone attacks. The limited information trickling out from under the communication and media blackout imposed by the federal government reveals extremely distressing consequences of widespread famine, including over 200 pregnancies ending in fetuses with missing body parts, malnourished infants struggling to breathe, children wasting away, lactating mothers unable to produce milk, and the elderly too weak to sit or stand. In other parts of Ethiopia, tens of thousands Tigrayans remain under detention and new reporting reveals denial of food, water and sanitary products in holding camps. Prison guards are also asking for ransom and exploiting the desperate situation. The Tigrayans recently released are also experiencing evictions, business closure, freezing of bank accounts and constant intimidations. These systematic acts are leaving Tigrayans with little to no means to sustain day to day life. The time for meaningful action that will save the lives of millions of people is fast running out. Efforts like H.R 6600 are therefore essential to ensure concerted action by the international community to bring the brutal conflict and flagrant human rights and humanitarian violations, and to ensure accountability for terrible atrocities.