from ADANE BIKILA in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Ethiopia Bureau
ADDIS ABABA, (CAJ News) – MORE people than ever are displaced from their homes globally mostly because of conflict.
According to the annual global report of the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC), the number has reached 59,1 million as of the end of 2021.
This is an increase from 55 million the previous year.
Nearly 25,2 million internally displaced people are under the age of 18.
The global population is estimated at 7,9 billion.
In Africa, conflicts that rage in Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Libya, Mozambique, Somalia and South Sudan are fuelling displacements.
Sub-Saharan Africa was the most affected region, with more than 5 million displacements in Ethiopia alone, the highest level ever recorded in a single country.
In some countries, conflicts, violence and disasters have followed one another, so much so that their populations have had to flee on several occasions.
Such countries include Mozambique, which has suffered numerous cyclones.
“The current situation is even worse than these data suggest,” said Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the non-governmental organization, Norwegian Council for refugees (NRC).
Egeland noted the record figure put forward does not take into account the nearly 8 million people forced to flee the war that is hitting Ukraine.
“A radical change in the ways of thinking of our world leaders is necessary in order to prevent and resolve these conflicts, and to put an end to this human suffering,” said the official.
– CAJ News