The terrible death of aid worker Yared Melese in Ethiopia’s Amhara Region has been reported by the UN.
Yared, an employee of the Action for Social Development and Environmental Protection Organization (ASDEPO), was kidnapped for ransom and later killed by an unidentified armed group operating in the Dawunt district of North Wollo Zone, according to a statement released by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
“A brave and dedicated humanitarian worker who was ready to assist civilians in need under extremely challenging circumstances,” was how the statement characterized Yared, a nutrition officer.
According to OCHA, there have been eight deaths of aid workers in Ethiopia this year, with six of the deaths taking place in Amhara.In 2024, the group also documented 14 kidnappings of humanitarian workers, mostly in the Central and North Gondar zones, with the intention of holding them hostage.
“We condemn in the strongest terms the kidnapping for ransom and subsequent killing of our colleague, Mr. YaredMelese, by criminals, while he was serving in the line of duty,” said Dr. Ramiz Alakbarov, Ethiopia’s Humanitarian Coordinator, in response to the tragedy.
OCHA stated that they had “engaged with respective government institutions regarding the speedy investigation and the necessary process to bring perpetrators of these and previously committed crimes to justice,” emphasizing the necessity for a prompt inquiry into these and prior events.
This event is part of a worrying pattern of violence in Ethiopia against humanitarian workers.
OCHA revealed in an earlier report that was published in early February that since the start of 2024, four Ethiopian relief workers had perished. Of them, two happened in the Amhara area, and the other two were in the Gambela and Afar regions.
The research from February also disclosed a more general trend of risk for aid workers in the nation. OCHA reports that since 2019, 46 humanitarian workers have perished in Ethiopia, 36 of them were directly related to violence in the country’s north.
