The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement are holding a virtual briefing to appeal for additional funding to respond to this massive humanitarian emergency in Ethiopia, Sudan, and Djibouti. Since November 2020, fighting in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region has triggered a humanitarian crisis inside the country—as well as in neighbouring Sudan and Djibouti.

On Wednesday, four former U.S. ambassadors to Ethiopia wrote a joint letter to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed voicing concern over the conflict in the northern Tigray region, rising ethnic tension in the country, and the reported presence of Eritrean troops.

The UN estimates that almost 2.3 million people, or nearly half of the population, need aid and confirms that hospitals have been looted, even destroyed, and some fighting continues.